Definition:
- Merriam-Webster Dictionary:a usually large collection of data organized especially for rapid search and retrieval (as by a computer)
Explanation:
Each item within a library catalog or database has a record that is composed of fields containing specific information about the item such as the author, title, publisher, abstract, date of publication, and subject descriptors.
When you search for items within the catalog or a database, you are actually searching the various fields of each record. The catalog and databases will return results that provide a match of your search terms.