In This Issue:

• Thank You
  
  
• Director's CorNER
  
  
• Future Leaders
  
  
• PubMed Particulars
  
  
• LinkOut
  
  
• New Library Groups
  
  
• Ill Advised
  
  
• Know Tech
  
  
• Tres Chic
  
  
• INside OUTreach
  
  
• Links
  
  

Alphabet Soup - Just what do all of those acronyms mean?

AIFF - Audio Interchange File Format - A file format for storing digital audio data. It supports a variety of bit resolutions, sample rates, and channels of audio. This format is very popular upon Apple platforms, and is widely used in professional programs that process digital audio waveforms.

ANSI - American National Standards Institute - ANSI (American National Standards Institute) is the primary organization for fostering the development of technology standards in the United States. ANSI works with industry groups and is the U.S. member of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC).

ASCII - American Standard Code for Information Interchange - ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) is the most common format for text files in computers and on the Internet. In an ASCII file, each alphabetic, numeric, or special character is represented with a 7-bit binary number (a string of seven 0s or 1s). 128 possible characters are defined.

ASP - Active Server Page - Microsoft's dynamic web page scripting language.

BIOS - Basic Input/Output System - (pronounced "by-oss") A basic set of routines that reads input to, and output from a computer.

BIT - Binary Digit - A bit (short for binary digit) is the smallest unit of data in a computer. A bit has a single binary value, either 0 or 1. Although computers usually provide instructions that can test and manipulate bits, they generally are designed to store data and execute instructions in bit multiples called bytes. In most computer systems, there are eight bits in a byte. The value of a bit is usually stored as either above or below a designated level of electrical charge in a single capacitor within a memory device.

BMP - Bit MaP - A bit map (often spelled "bitmap") defines a display space and the color for each pixel or "bit" in the display space.

Byte - Eight binary digits - A byte is the unit most computers use to represent a character such as a letter, number, or typographic symbol (for example, "g", "5", or "?").

CD - Compact Disk - Those round, shiny things with digital audio or data on them.

CDDB - Compact Disk Database - CDDB is a database comprised of thousands of artist, album and track titles. When you insert an audio CD in your CD-ROM drive and are connected to the Internet, your program will make a connection with this site and it will match the serial number of your CD with their records and import all title, artist, and track data into the 'Recorder' screen. This information will cross over to your music library, upon recording completion, saving you the tedious data entry task.

CD-R - Compact Disc Recordable - Round, shiny things that you can record digital audio or data on.

CD-RW - Compact Disc ReWritable - Round, shiny things that you can record digital audio or data on, over and over and over and over (but just until it finally wears out - Compact Disks in general have a lifespan of about 10 years).

CDROM - Compact Disk ROM - Those round shiny things with data on them (can be digital audio data).

CFML - Cold Fusion Markup Language - Macromedia's (formerly Allaire's) dynamic web page scripting language.

CGI - Common Gateway Interface - The common gateway interface (CGI) is a standard way for a Web server to pass a Web user's request to an application program and to receive data back to forward to the user.

Codec - Coder/Decoder - A an algorithm, or specialized computer program, that compresses or reduces the number of bytes consumed by large files and programs.

CPU - Central Processing Unit - The microprocessor chip that powers a computer. The Intel Pentium chip is one example of a CPU. The term also refers to the box that houses this chip.

DHCP - Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol - A communications protocol that automatically assigns dynamic Internet Protocol (IP) addresses on an organization's network rather requiring them to be set manually to static addresses.

DLL - Dynamic Link Library - A Windows file containing functions and resources that other programs can use.

DNS - Domain Name Service - The system that catalogs Internet domain names and translates them into Internet Protocol addresses.

DSL - Digital Subscriber Line - A technology for bringing high-bandwidth information to homes and small businesses over ordinary copper telephone lines.

EIDE - Enhanced Integrated Drive Electronics - Enhanced (sometimes "Expanded") IDE is a standard electronic interface between your computer and its mass storage drives. EIDE's enhancements to Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) make it possible to address a hard disk larger than 528 Mbytes.

EISA - Extended Industry Standard Architecture - (pronounced "ee-suh") EISA is a standard bus (computer interconnection) architecture that extends the ISA standard to a 32-bit interface. It was developed in part as an open alternative to the proprietary Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) that IBM introduced in its PS/2 computers.

FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions - Click here to go the Frequently Asked Questions FAQ.

FTP - File Transfer Protocol - File Transfer Protocol (FTP), a standard Internet protocol, is the simplest way to exchange files between computers on the Internet. Because both password and data transmission are unencrypted and unsecure, secure protocols like SSH and SSL are replacing FTP for file transfer.

GB - GigaByte - 1,073,741,824 bytes

GHz - GigaHertz - A unit of measure expressing (computer) speed in terms of the number of billions of operations per second.

GIF - Graphics Interchange Format - (pronounced like "Gift" without the "t") One of the two most common file formats for graphic images on the World Wide Web. The other is the JPEG.

GNU - Gnu's Not Unix (operating system) - GNU is a UNIX-like operating system that comes with source code that can be copied, modified, and redistributed. The GNU project was started in 1983 by Richard Stallman and others, who formed the Free Software Foundation. Stallman believes that users should be free to do whatever they want with software they acquire, including making copies for friends and modifying the source code and repackaging it with a distribution charge. The FSF uses a stipulation that it calls copyleft. Copyleft stipulates that anyone redistributing free software must also pass along the freedom to further copy and change the program, thereby ensuring that no one can claim ownership of future versions and place restrictions on users.

HTML - Hypertext Markup Language - HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is the set of markup symbols or codes inserted in a file intended for display on a World Wide Web browser page. The markup tells the Web browser how to display a Web page's words and images for the user.

HTTP - HyperText Transfer Protocol - The set of rules for exchanging files (text, graphic images, sound, video, and other multimedia files) on the World Wide Web.

IDE - Integrated Drive Electronics - A standard electronic interface used between a computer motherboard's data paths or bus and the computer's disk storage devices. The IDE interface is based on the IBM PC Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) 16-bit bus standard, but it is also used in computers that use other bus standards.

IP - Internet Protocol - The method or protocol by which data is sent from one computer to another on the Internet. Each computer (known as a host) on the Internet has at least one IP address that uniquely identifies it from all other computers on the Internet. When you send or receive data (for example, an e-mail note or a Web page), the message gets divided into little chunks called packets. Each of these packets contains both the sender's Internet address and the receiver's address. Any packet is sent first to a gateway computer that understands a small part of the Internet. The gateway computer reads the destination address and forwards the packet to an adjacent gateway that in turn reads the destination address and so forth across the Internet until one gateway recognizes the packet as belonging to a computer within its immediate neighborhood or domain. That gateway then forwards the packet directly to the computer whose address is specified.

IP Address - Internet Protocol Address - A 32-bit number (in the form XXX.XXX.XXX.XXX) that identifies each sender or receiver of information that is sent in packets across the Internet. An IP address has two parts: the identifier of a particular network on the Internet and an identifier of the particular device (which can be a server or a workstation) within that network.

IRC - Internet Relay Chat - The series of protocols behind internet "chat rooms."

IS - Information Services - An oxymoron, because we all know these folks don't give anyone any kind of useful information in any sort of timely fashion, much less help you get your machine working through their firewall.

ISA - Industry Standard Architecture - The standard bus (computer interconnection) architecture that is associated with the IBM AT motherboard. It allows 16 bits at a time to flow between the motherboard circuitry and an expansion slot card and its associated device(s).

ISDN - Integrated Services Digital Network - A set of CCITT/ITU standards for digital transmission over ordinary telephone copper wire as well as over other media. Home and business users who install an ISDN adapter (in place of a modem) can see highly-graphic Web pages arriving very quickly (up to 128 Kbps). ISDN requires adapters at both ends of the transmission so your access provider also needs an ISDN adapter. ISDN is generally available from your phone company in most urban areas in the United States and Europe.

ISO - International Standardization Organisation - ISO is a non-governmental organization established in 1947. The mission of ISO is to promote the development of standardization and related activities in the world with a view to facilitating the international exchange of goods and services, and to developing cooperation in the spheres of intellectual, scientific, technological and economic activity. In other words, they want to put a bar code on everything including you and your children.

ISP - Internet Service Provider

IT - Information Technology - See "IS" above.

JPEG - Joint Photographic Experts Group - (pronounced "JAY-peg") A Graphic image file created by choosing from a range of compression qualities. When you create a JPEG or convert an image from another format to a JPEG, you are asked to specify the quality of image you want. Since the highest quality results in the largest file, you can make a trade-off between image quality and file size.

K - Kilobyte - 1,024 Bytes

KB - KiloByte - 1,024 Bytes

KBPS KB/s - KiloBits Per Second

KHz - KiloHertz - A unit of measure expressing (computer) speed in terms of the number of thousands of operations per second.

LAN - Local Area Network

LCD - Liquid Crystal Display

MB - Megabyte - 1,048,576 bytes

MHz - MegaHertz - A unit of measure expressing (computer) speed in terms of the number of millions of operations per second.

MIME - Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions - An extension of the original Internet e-mail protocol that lets people use the protocol to exchange different kinds of data files on the Internet: audio, video, images, application programs, and other kinds, as well as the ASCII handled in the original protocol, the Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP)

MODEM - MOdulator/DEModulator

MP3 - MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 - A standard technology and format for compression a sound sequence into a very small file (about one-twelfth the size of the original file) while preserving the original level of sound quality when it is played.

MPEG - Motion Picture Experts Group - (pronounced "EHM-pehg") The Moving Picture Experts Group, develops standards for digital video and digital audio compression. It operates under the auspices of the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).

OCR - Optical Character Recognition - The recognition of printed or written text characters by a computer. This involves photoscanning of the text character-by-character, analysis of the scanned-in image, and then translation of the character image into character codes, such as ASCII, commonly used in data processing.

PCI - Peripheral Component Interface - An interconnection system between a microprocessor and attached devices in which expansion slots are spaced closely for high speed operation. Using PCI, a computer can support both new PCI cards while continuing to support Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) expansion cards.

Perl - Practical Extraction and Report Language - A script programming language that is similar in syntax to the C language and that includes a number of popular UNIX facilities such as sed, awk, and tr. Perl is an interpreted language that can optionally be compiled just before execution into either C code or cross-platform bytecode. When compiled, a Perl program is almost (but not quite) as fast as a fully precompiled C language program. Perl is regarded as a good choice for developing common gateway interface (CGI) programs because it has good text manipulation facilities (although it also handles binary files). It was invented by Larry Wall.

PDA - Personal Digital Assistant - Those handheld Palm Pilot thingies that organize your address book, calendar, memos, and let you play all kinds of games.

PDF - Portable Document Format - A file format that has captured all the elements of a printed document as an electronic image that you can view, navigate, print, or forward to someone else. PDF files are created using Adobe Acrobat, Acrobat Capture, or similar products. To view and use the files, you need the free Acrobat Reader, which you can easily download. Once you've downloaded the Reader, it will start automatically whenever you want to look at a PDF file.

PGP - Pretty Good Privacy - A popular program used to encrypt and decrypt e-mail over the Internet. It can also be used to send an encrypted digital signature that lets the receiver verify the sender's identity and know that the message was not changed en route. Available both as freeware and in a low-cost commercial version, PGP is the most widely used privacy-ensuring program by individuals and is also used by many corporations. Developed by Philip R. Zimmermann in 1991, PGP has become a de facto standard for e-mail security. PGP can also be used to encrypt files being stored so that they are unreadable by other users or intruders.

PHP - Personal Home Page Tools - A script language and interpreter that is freely available and used primarily on Linux Web servers for generating dynamic web content.

POP3 - Post Office Protocol 3 - A client/server protocol in which e-mail is received and held for you by your Internet server. Periodically, you (or your client e-mail receiver) check your mail-box on the server and download any mail. POP3 is built into the Netmanage suite of Internet products and one of the most popular e-mail products, Eudora. It's also built into the Netscape and Microsoft Internet Explorer browsers.

PPP - Point-to-Point Protocol - A protocol for communication between two computers using a serial interface, typically a personal computer connected by phone line to a server.

SCSI - Small Computer Systems Interface - (pronounced "SKUH-zee" and sometimes colloquially known as "scuzzy"), the Small Computer System Interface, is a set of evolving ANSI standard electronic interfaces that allow personal computers to communicate with peripheral hardware such as disk drives, tape drives, CD-ROM drives, printers, and scanners faster and more flexibly than previous interfaces. Developed at Apple Computer and still used in the Macintosh, the present set of SCSIs are parallel interfaces. SCSI ports are built into most personal computers today and are supported by all major operating systems.

SIMM - Single In-line Memory Module - A module containing one or several random access memory (RAM) chips on a small circuit board with PINs that connect to the computer motherboard. More memory = faster performance.

SMTP - Simple Mail Transfer Protocol - A TCP/IP protocol used in sending and receiving e-mail. However, since it's limited in its ability to queue messages at the receiving end, it's usually used with one of two other protocols, POP3 or Internet Message Access Protocol, that let the user save messages in a server mailbox and download them periodically from the server.

SPAM - SPiced hAM also Junk E-mail.

SQL - Structured Query Language - SQL (Structured Query Language) is a standard interactive and programming language for getting information from and updating a database. Queries take the form of a command language that lets you select, insert, update, find out the location of data, and so forth. SSH - Secure Shell - A UNIX-based command interface and protocol for securely getting access to a remote computer. SSH commands are encrypted and secure in several ways. Both ends of the client/server connection are authenticated using a digital certificate, and passwords are protected by being encrypted.

SSI - Server Side Include - A variable value or file snippet that a server can include in an HTML file.

SSL - Secure Sockets Layer - The Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) is a commonly-used protocol for managing the security of a message transmission on the Internet. SSL has recently been succeeded by Transport Layer Security (TLS), which is based on SSL. SSL uses a program layer located between the Internet's Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and Transport Control Protocol (TCP) layers. SSL is included as part of both the Microsoft and Netscape browsers and most Web server products. Developed by Netscape, SSL also gained the support of Microsoft and other Internet client/server developers as well and became the de facto standard until evolving into Transport Layer Security.

SYSAD - System Administrator

SYSOP - System Operator

T1 - The T1 (or T-1) carrier is the most commonly used digital line in the United States, Canada, and Japan. In these countries, it carries 24 pulse code modulation (PCM) signals using time-division multiplexing (TDM) at an overall rate of 1.544 million bits per second (Mbps). T1 lines use copper wire and span distances within and between major metropolitan areas.

T3 - A higher level T-carrier that transmits at 44.736 Mbps.

TCP/IP - Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol - The basic communication language or protocol of the Internet.

TIFF - Tagged Image File Format - A common format for exchanging raster graphics (bitmap) images between application programs, including those used for scanner images. A TIFF file can be identified as a file with a ".tiff" or ".tif" file name suffix. The TIFF format was developed in 1986 by an industry committee chaired by the Aldus Corporation (now part of Adobe Software). Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard were among the contributors to the format. One of the most common graphic image formats, TIFF files are commonly used in desktop publishing, faxing, 3-D applications, and medical imaging applications.

URL - Uniform Resource Locator - (pronounced "YU-AHR-EHL" by normal people) The address of a file (resource) accessible on the Internet.

USB - Universal Serial Bus - USB (Universal Serial Bus) is a plug-and-play interface between a computer and add-on devices (such as audio players, joysticks, keyboards, telephones, scanners, and printers). With USB, a new device can be added to your computer without having to add an adapter card or even having to turn the computer off.

WAV - Wave file - An audio file format, created by Microsoft, that has become a standard PC audio file format.

WYSIWYG - What You See Is What You Get - (pronounced "wizzy-wig")

XML - eXtensive Markup Languge - A flexible way to create common information formats and share both the format and the data on the World Wide Web.

Y2K - Year 2000 - Hello, Wake up, where have you been for the past few years?!?

ZIP - Zip File - A file that has been compressed to reduce its size. Must be opened/extracted with a compression tool like: PKZIP for the DOS operating system, WinZip and Netzip for Windows, MacZip for Macintosh users, and Zip and UnZip for UNIX systems.

Defintions for terms from: Whatis.com, BABEL : Glossary of Computer Oriented Abbreviations and Acronyms, PC Magazine, and yours truly.

Shawn Klejmont, Technology Coordinator