Glossary

It’s important to use the same words, spelling, and capitalization consistently, otherwise content presents as messy and confusing to people.

Refer to the Web Content Management Committee’s “Dejargonators” subgroup to evaluate best use of labels for services.

A

account
Always refer to a person’s library account as My Account (proper noun). “Go to My Account to see checked out items.”

B

Bio-Medical Library
Sunsetting January 2020. See “Health Sciences Library.”

H

Health Sciences Library
The official name replacing Bio-Medical Library in January 2020. It refers specifically to the one library, often abbreviated as HSL (follow abbreviation guidelines for this use).
Decided by: Health Sciences Library

L

library, libraries
When referring to the library system, use University Libraries. When addressing a specific location, use its proper name, e.g., Wilson Library. If referring to libraries generally (scoped to all libraries, e.g. “academic libraries”), use lowercase “library”. When referring to it, use the singular third person pronoun (it/its).

M

MNCAT Discovery
Outdated. See “search”.
Minitex
All lower case. Do not use MINITEX.

S

search
Use “Libraries search” for Primo UI or “Libraries catalog” for Alma-only search.
Decided by: D2A steering committee, February 2019

U

university
University of Minnesota is the appropriate name to use, or if referring to it later on the same page, “the University” is acceptable. Avoid UMN or U of M abbreviations.