Page 260 - DLIS006_INFORMATION SOURCES AND SERVICES

Unit 13: Indexing Services and Abstracting (I&A) Periodicals

Notes

Caselet Finding Periodical Articles Using Print Indexes

rinted periodical indexes and online periodical databases are tools that provide
subject access to articles in periodicals. Some cover a wide range of subjects (general
Pindexes); others cover specialized journals in a particular field or discipline, and
sometimes in books. Some periodical indexes may include abstracts (summaries of articles).
Printed periodical indexes allow you to:

Search by subjects and sometimes by authors;
Search for historical information published in years before online databases became
available, as well as current information

Find articles from periodicals for which an online database may be unavailable
(e.g., Art Index covers some periodicals that are not included in the online databases
accessible through the CCSF Libraries.)
General Indexes
Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature is an example of a general index, one that leads
you to articles in popular magazines covering all subject areas. The Rosenberg Library has
the Reader’s Guide from 1890 to the present. Once you learn how to read a citation from
Readers’ Guide, you will know how to read citations in many specialized indexes as well.
A citation is the information you need to identify and locate a work. For a periodical
article, it includes the author, article title, periodical title, date, page number, and sometimes
volume and issue numbers.
Specialized Indexes and Abstracts
Specialized indexes lead you to periodical articles in a particular subject area. Some of the
subject indexes available at the Rosenberg Library include:
Current Subscriptions

Art Index (1935-38, 1941–present)
Biography Index (1946–present)
Black Periodicals, G.K. Hall Index to (1907–present)
Book Review Digest (1905–present)

Cumulative Index to Nursing and Applied Health Literature (1985–present)
Short Story Index (1890–present)
Non-current Subscriptions
Applied Science & Technology Index (1985–2001)

Education Index (1947–1999)
Essay & General Literature Index (1900–2001)
General Science Index (1993–2001)
Humanities Index (1974–2001)

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