An asterism in Ursa Minor, formed from 9 stars. Not one of the 88 constellations.
Fainter than its neighbour and harder work from a town, but it ends at Polaris, which makes it the one pattern worth knowing if you ever need to find north without a compass.
The Little Dipper is centred near right ascension 16.2 hours, declination +79°. It is circumpolar from most of the northern hemisphere, meaning it never sets and can be found on any clear night.
The International Astronomical Union recognises 88 constellations, and they divide the whole sky between them like countries on a map. The Little Dipper is not one of them — it is a pattern picked out of Ursa Minor. That makes it an asterism: a shape people recognise and name, with no official standing whatsoever.
The distinction matters less than it sounds. Asterisms are usually easier to find than the constellations containing them, which is exactly why they survive.
SkyRef can draw the Little Dipper in its real position for wherever you are — switch on the asterism layer and it appears dashed across the constellations it runs through.