Page 208 - DLIS007_LIBRARY AUTOMATION

Unit 10: Library Automation in Periodicals Section

If the library does not subscribe to the periodical you need, you may request a copy of the Notes
article that you need through Document Delivery Services.

Many scholarly journals will not publish an article until it has been reviewed by an
editorial board to insure that it meets certain standards of scholarly quality.
A periodical index is a type of reference source that lists periodical articles by subject or
author. If you have a topic in mind, a periodical index can help you find articles about that
topic. Other listings of the contents of magazines and journals, especially for older materials,
are called periodical indexes.
An index will point you to the right periodical, the specific date or issue copy, and even the
pages for a specific article.

Most print indexes use many abbreviations, especially of periodical titles. Fortunately,
most indexes explain their abbreviations in the introductory pages. Many periodicals
have similar titles which are easily confused.
The author of a book spends a good deal of time gathering and analysing information,
testing theories, and drawing conclusions. An editor then reviews the manuscript at least
once and sometimes suggests major revisions.
Periodical Indexes are tools that provide a list of articles about a certain topic along with
the information needed to locate the actual article: title and author of article, name and
date of the periodical, and page numbers. This unit of information that identifies the
article is called a citation.

10.6 Keywords

Abstracts: An abstract is simply a summary of the key points of an article.
Citations: Brief descriptions of an item that identify specific articles.

Journals: Journals are refereed, which means that articles submitted for publication go before a
panel of experts i.e. peer-reviewed, before being accepted for publication.
Magazines: Magazines are written for general readers.

News Magazines: News magazines report on national and international current events, social
and political trends, public opinion, and popular culture.
Newspapers: A newspaper is a periodical publication containing news regarding current events,
informative articles, diverse features, editorials, and advertising.
Periodical: Periodical is a term used for publications which come out “periodically,” on a
predictable basis.

Periodical Index: A periodical index is a type of reference source that lists periodical articles by
subject or author. If you have a topic in mind, a periodical index can help you find articles about
that topic.
Searching Mechanism: In a print index, the searching mechanism is simply an alphabetical list of
authors, titles, or subjects that refer to a master list of citations.
10.7 Review Questions

1. What is periodical?
2. Distinguish between periodical, journal, magazine, and newspapers.

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