Beginning in 1994 as a five-page handout, the Dictionary of Library and Information Science was soon expanded and converted to electronic format for installation on the Western Connecticut State University Library Web site, where it is in high demand by library professionals, scholars, and students, and has won international praise. Now available for the first time in print, the dictionary is the most comprehensive and reliable English-language resource for terminology used in all types of libra ries. With more than 4,000 terms and cross-references (last updated January, 2003), the dictionary''s content has been carefully selected and includes terms from publishing, printing, literature, and computer science where, in the author''s judgment, t hey are relevant to both library professionals and laypersons.
The primary criterion for including a new term is whether library and information science professionals might reasonably be expected to encounter it at some point in their career, or be required to know its meaning.