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Library Lingo

This page lists common terms, acronyms, and phrases used by libraries and librarians.

W

Wild Card

A wild card allows for the substitution of a symbol (either *, ?, or !) for a letter in a word. With m?n you can retrieve both men and man.

Wish List

If you have already reached your limit when putting items on hold (25) or if you don't want to obtain an item right away, you can save it to a wish list.

  • Wish lists are tied to your account, so they are only visible when you are signed in to My Account online.
  • For your convenience, there is a "Place Hold" button next to each item in a wish list so you can put it on hold when you are ready to request it.
  • You can have multiple lists, and it is easy to add, remove, or even move items between lists.
  • If you have the Reading History feature turned on, you can update your wish list by removing items you have already checked out. Just view a wish list and click "Remove Read."

Withdrawn

Items that are no longer in the library collection

Wifi

A facility allowing computers, smartphones, or other devices to connect to the Internet or communicate with one another wirelessly within a particular area.

WorldCat

WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of 72,000 libraries in 170 countries and territories that participate in the Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) global cooperative. It is built and maintained collectively by the participating libraries.

Wowbrary

Wowbrary is a website dedicated for new books we purchase at the SAPL. It can help keep you up to date on the Library's most recent additions. Once a week, Wowbrary crafts a list of the library's newest titles into an easy-to-browse website complete with images and summaries. You can even sign up to receive a weekly email of the top 20 items.