There is a very big difference between a node and a view, one that often confuses people who are new to Drupal.

A node is a single entry that uses some content type submission form.  This can be a a Book page, a Feature Story, etc.  If you were to draw a visual map of your Drupal site, where each piece of content was a point that was connected to other points, each point would be a node.

A view, on the other hand, is a term that is commonly used in the Relational Database Management field.  A view, in general, is a collection of data that is lumped together and displayed as a group.  A good, general example of a view is a basic data report.  In Drupal, a view can be a collection of nodes that are somehow related, a collection of data about users of the site, or a collection of data about the site system - among other things.

By default, in OSU Drupal, the Author and Site Manager roles are permitted to create and edit most of the available node types in a site. 

Conversely, by default, in OSU Drupal, Authors and Site Managers can not create or edit a view.  View development using the Views module is actually an advanced topic that requires either some type of training or previous experience. Only Architects can create views in OSU Drupal.

How to Tell the Difference Between a Node and a View

One easy way to spot a view is the presence of a list of something that automatically updates.  For example, if you have a list of employees on your Drupal site that automatically updates when you add a user to your site, then the list that you're looking at is a view.

Another way to spot a view is if you are logged in and permitted to create a particular content type, but you do not see the standard View and Edit tabs used for a node.  A view does not have these.