In photography, immersion of a print in clean running water during the developing process to remove fixatives. Improperly washed photographic prints eventually discolor and deteriorate.

Watermarks were originally intended to identify and date the source of production but in time came to designate paper size. Modern watermarks are sometimes used to provide security against forgery. The paper used in a deluxe edition may be watermarked to indicate that it was made especially for the edition. Click here to learn more about watermarks, courtesy of David Badke. To see images of this elusive form of pictorial art, try a search on the term "unicorn" in Watermarks in Incunabula Printed in the Low Countries, a database maintained by the Koninklijke Bibliotheek. Synonymous with papermark. See also: countermark.

In word processing, a design or lettering printed in a shade of gray across a page, over which the text appears to be superimposed, for example, the word "Draft" to indicate that the text is not the final version. A digital watermark is a sequence of bits skillfully embedded in a data file, such as an audio CD or motion picture on DVD, to help identify the source of copies manufactured or distributed in violation of copyright.

Click here to learn more about the history of the Edison Cylinder Phonograph, courtesy of About.com. A massive Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project is in progress at the University of California, Santa Barbara. For additional information, try Tinfoil.com or Phonograph Cylinders: A Beginner's Guide by Tim Gracyk. The Library of Congress recommends that wax cylinders be at room temperature when handled because the thermal shock from the warmth of the hand can cause a cold cylinder to shatter. Also, the grooves should not be touched because of susceptibility to mold (insert fingers in the center hole).

American Psychological Association (APA)

Milius, S. (2005, July 23). Meat-eating caterpillar: It hunts snails and ties them down. Science News Online,

168, 51. Retrieved August 30, 2005, from http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20050723/fob1.asp

Modern Language Association (MLA)

Milius, Susan. "Meat-Eating Caterpillar: It Hunts Snails and Ties Them Down." Science News Online

23 July 2005. 30 August 30, 2005 <http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20050723/fob1.asp>

Reference

Libraries

Library and Information Science

Organizations

The URL of a category in a Web index often reflects the hierarchical structure, as in:
dir.yahoo.com/Reference/Libraries/Library_and_Information_Science/Organizations

Also refers to the basis on which a unit of paper, such as a ream, is sold in the market place. The M-weight of a given size of paper is the weight of 1,000 sheets, measured in pounds. See also: basis weight.

One advantage of Wikipedia is that it contains articles on far more subjects than traditional encyclopedias, often providing unique coverage of topics in popular culture and developments too recent to be covered in any other reference work. Updating within minutes of an event is common. In an article published in Library Issues in January 2007, Barbara Fister describes Wikipedia as "an unusually successful example of participatory culture enabled by technology that provides low-barrier methods for creating and sharing content." However, reliance on Wikipedia by students writing research papers is generally discouraged by librarians and instructors, due to lack of editorial control over content. Click here to learn more about Wikipedia.

Examples:

wom#n or wom?n to retrieve records containing woman or women

colo#r or colo?r to retrieve records containing color or colour

In computing, a symbol available in most operating systems and application programs (usually the asterisk), which can be used in a filename to identify multiple files and directories, for example, letter*.doc to retrieve all the "doc" files with filenames beginning with "letter." Most word processing applications also allow the user to employ wildcard in text searches.

Also refers to the opening cut out of the center of a mat through which a mounted print is viewed or out of the center of a card through which a mounted slide or frame of microfilm is viewed. Similarly, an opening cut in the front of an envelope, to allow the address printed on the enclosed document to be seen.

In modern usage, a graphic used in meteorology to show the amount of time the wind blows in each compass direction at a specific geographic location (click here and here to see different examples). Some also indicate wind speed (click here and here).

In binding, a book with the fore-edge so lightly trimmed that some leaves are left rough.

Woodcut is the oldest of all techniques for reproducing illustration. The earliest dated example is a scroll copy of the Diamond Sutra printed in China in the 9th century A.D. In early printing in Europe, woodblocks were locked with movable type to allow text and illustration to be inked together (see this example courtesy of the Cary Collection, Rochester Institute). To produce colored prints, separate blocks were cut for each color and successive impressions made on the same sheet. Click here to view a 16th-century woodcut illustration in the Hans Holbein Dance of Death (Special Collections, Glasgow University Library, Gemmell 1). For more examples, see the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Timeline of Art History. The Library of Congress provides the online exhibition A Heavenly Craft: The Woodcut in Early Printed Books. See also Stultifera Navis: The Ship of Fools, courtesy of the University of Houston Libraries. Also spelled wood-cut and wood cut. Compare with metalcut. See also: chiaroscuro woodcut, linocut, lubki, and xylography.

As defined in FRBR (Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records), a distinct intellectual or artistic creation, independent of any concrete realization or expression of its content (example: Beowulf as opposed to a specific text of the epic). The concept is abstract in specifying only the content that the various expressions of a work have in common. Under this definition, the boundaries of a given work may be culturally determined. When modification of a work entails considerable independent intellectual or artistic endeavor, the result is treated as a new work (example: an adaptation of Beowulf intended for juvenile readers). See also: superwork.

In the context of medieval manuscripts, the term refers to the limp covers of a book bound without boards, usually in parchment or vellum, a method reserved for music scores and less important texts. See also: in quaternis.