I have been reading around the internet for a good explanation of what a node is in OPC-UA. It seems there are libraries out there for it, but none actually explain nodes. What is the purpose of nodes in OPC-UA?
Note: OPC and OPC-UA noob here
I think you are talking about 2 different stuff here.
By reading the OPC UA Specification you will get a good overview here - Specially Part 1: Overview and Concepts and Part 3: Address Space Model (you need to create a free account first)