Library and cloud terms, briefly explained

An abstract is a concise, neutral summary of a scholarly work. In Librario it is recorded as a bibliographic field.

API stands for application programming interface. Through it other programs exchange data with Librario — for example to create or query publications automatically. Librario provides a documented REST API.

arXiv is an open repository for scientific preprints, mainly in physics, mathematics and computer science. Each entry carries an arXiv ID that uniquely references the work.

BibTeX is a widely used file format for bibliographic references, originally developed for the LaTeX typesetting system. Librario exports publications as BibTeX for direct reuse in scholarly writing.

A call number identifies a single book within a library. It is assigned during cataloguing and locates the book precisely on the shelf.

Cataloguing is the process of describing and organising a library's resources — books, articles and other materials — by maintaining metadata such as author, title and subject so each resource stays easy to find.

Cloud computing is the approach of using an abstracted IT infrastructure instead of individual physical computers or servers. Computing power, storage and services are consumed on demand.

A corporate library is an organisation's internal library. It gives staff central access to literature and publications and is usually not open to the public.

DIN is the Deutsches Institut für Normung, the German standards body. It issues technical standards — such as DIN 1426 on the abstract. Standards are a dedicated publication type in Librario.

DOI stands for digital object identifier. A DOI permanently and uniquely identifies a digital object and is used mainly for scholarly articles.

GND is the Gemeinsame Normdatei, the German integrated authority file maintained by libraries for persons, organisations and subject terms — so the same author is referenced consistently everywhere.

ISBN stands for international standard book number. It identifies books and similar works uniquely and consistently worldwide.

ISSN stands for international standard serial number. It identifies journals and serial publications consistently.

Library software — also called an integrated library system — is software for managing a library's publications. It supports searching an OPAC as well as lending and retrieving books and files.

MCP stands for Model Context Protocol, an open standard through which AI assistants access external data sources. Librario provides an MCP server that lets an AI assistant research directly in your library.

Metadata are the descriptive details of a publication — title, author, year, keywords and other bibliographic fields. They make a publication findable and citable.

OCR stands for optical character recognition, the automatic detection of text in images and scans. Librario uses it to make the text of scanned PDFs searchable.

A One Person Librarian (OPL) runs a library single-handedly, covering both professional and administrative tasks — from cataloguing to procurement.

OPAC stands for online public access catalogue, an online library catalogue for searching the available publications.

PDF stands for portable document format, a platform-independent file format for documents. In Librario, PDF attachments are first-class, searchable parts of a publication.

A publication is a publicly issued medium — a book, journal, article or standard. In Librario the publication is the central catalogued unit.

PWA stands for progressive web app. Librario can be installed as a PWA and then behaves like a native application — no app store, always up to date.

QR code stands for quick response code, a two-dimensional code. Librario uses it to label books: scanning the code with a smartphone marks a book as borrowed or returned.

SaaS stands for software as a service, a part of cloud computing in which the software and IT infrastructure are run by a provider and made available over the internet. Librario is a SaaS product.

Single sign-on (SSO) lets a user authenticate to several systems with a single login instead of managing separate credentials. Librario supports SSO via Microsoft, e.g. Microsoft 365.