Acronyms & Jargon
There isn't much that is more off-putting than people (or
organizations) that throw their acronyms and jargon around, and
expect you to know what they mean. Especially in computing, some
people use terminology that often even they don't understand fully.
We have started a definitions list of acronyms and terms that may
be unfamiliar. Some of them are specific to JMU; some are specific
to computing. None of them are particularly difficult, once you
know what they mean.
A B C D E F
G H I J
K L M
N O P
Q R S T U
V W
X Y
Z
| Affiliate |
An Affiliate is any person who receives a service (free or for a fee) from the University who does NOT receive a regular paycheck from JMU |
| Alerts |
Computing announcements hosted in the JMU web forums. |
| AMEX |
American Express |
| ASCII |
American Standard Code for Information
Interchange; a very common text format |
| ATV |
Accounting Transfer Voucher |
|
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| BIOS |
Basic Input Output System; responsible
for booting the computer by providing a basic set of
instructions |
| Blackboard |
Provides a gateway to distributed and distance learning offerings at James Madison University |
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| CampusLink |
off campus dial-in JMU internet
access |
| CampusNet |
on campus JMU internet access |
| CBT |
Computer Based Testing/Training |
| CISAT |
College of Integrated Science and
Technology |
| CIT |
Center for Instructional
Technology |
| CMIB |
Campus Move-In Bonanza |
| COB |
College of Business |
| CPU |
Central Processing Unit; main
processor in a computer. In a PC it is known as Pentium, 486
etc. |
| CS |
Computer Science |
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| DHCP |
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol; a
service to secure an easy and correct configuration of network
client's TCP/IP addresses, subnet mask, default gateway, etc. |
| DNS |
Domain Name Servers; a naming service
that maps TCP/IP addresses to computer names |
| DPO |
Departmental Purchase Order |
| DVD |
Digital Versatile Disc/Drive or
Digital Video Disc/Drive |
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| e-campus |
website to view Course Offerings,
Transcripts, Class Schedule and to access Registration |
| E-ID |
Electronic Identification |
| ESN |
Equipment Service Number; a 5 digit
number (4 digit in the case of MPAC numbers) used to uniquely
identify JMU owned computing equipment |
| ETF |
Equipment Trust Fund |
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| FAQ |
Frequently Asked Questions |
| Finch |
the "www.jmu.edu" server |
| Flex |
a declining balance account that
connects you with the JMU campus community |
| FM |
Facilities Management |
| FTP |
File Transfer Protocol; transfer
program for text- and binary files |
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| HTML |
HyperText Markup Language; simple
script language used to generate internet sites |
| HTTP |
HyperText Transfer Protocol; an
application-level protocol with the lightness and speed necessary
for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems.
HTTP has been in use by the World-Wide Web global information
initiative since 1990. |
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| IE |
Internet Explorer; web-browser
produced by MicroSoft |
| IIS |
Integrated Information Systems |
| IMAP |
Internet Message Access Protocol;
e-mail protocol used on Campus |
| InfoSec |
Information Security |
| IP |
Internet Protocol; a 'network
language' used on the Internet as well as on local area networks
(LAN's) inside companies |
| IS |
Information Systems |
| ISAT |
Integrated Science and Technology |
| ISP |
Internet Service Provider |
| IT |
Information Technology |
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| JAC |
James Madison University Access
Card |
| J-Ess |
JMU Employee Self-Service Information Website |
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| LDAP |
Lightweight Directory Application
Protocol |
| Leo |
Carrier Library's online catalog;
contains listings of all resources within the Library as well as
materials available to the library from other institutions |
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| MS |
MicroSoft (products manufactured by,
i.e.. MSWindows, MSWord, etc.) |
| MSC |
Mail Stop Code; number assigned to a
particular place or building for delivery of mail |
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| OS |
Operating System; makes it possible to
use a computer. It is program code that simplifies communication
between the user and the machine. The OS is running on top of the
BIOS, and the applications are running on top of the OS. |
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| PAR |
Personnel Action Request; form used by
Human Resources to designate or make changes in university
positions |
| Peregrin |
Unix server that students, faculty, and
staff are allowed to use. |
| PC |
Personal Computer |
| PCMCIA |
Personal Computer Memory Card
International Association; also know as a PC Card |
| PDF |
Portable Document Format; document
format viewed with the free Adobe®
Acrobat® Reader® |
| PIN |
Personal Identification Number |
| POP |
Post Office Protocol; protocol used for communication between the e-mail post office and the clients |
| Protocol |
Language for computer networks |
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| RAM |
Random Access Memory; the working area
in a computers memory |
| RIM |
Research in Motient |
| R.U.N.S.A.F.E. |
A security program to keep your
computer safe. more
info... |
| ROM |
Read-Only Memory; memory without
writing access. e.g. CD-ROM |
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| SA |
Student Administration System |
| SLAs |
Service Level Agreements |
| SMTP |
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol; Used to
transfer electronic mail between systems |
| SPSS |
a software package for performing
statistical analyses of data |
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| TCP/IP |
Transport Control Protocol/Internet
Protocol; a network protocol (network language) and is the protocol
of the Internet |
| Telnet |
a terminal emulation protocol commonly
used on the Internet and other TCP/IP based networks |
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| UNIX |
an operating system that was developed
at Bell Labs during the 1970's |
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| WebBoard |
an online conferencing system |
| WebManager |
JMU produced web content manager |
| WS_FTP |
file transfer program for Windows |
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