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CHAPTER 7: PERIODICALS, INDEXES TO PERIODICALS, AND THE JOURNALS LIST This chapter explains the research value of periodicals, the uses of
periodicals indexes, and the online computerized guide to the Library’s
collection of periodicals, the Journals List.
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Actually, there is an easy answer to
this question: Periodicals Indexes! Compiled by indexing services,
indexes to periodicals are systematic guides to the contents of periodicals,
and are themselves often periodicals, (that is, many are published
monthly, others quarterly, and still others yearly). There are hundreds of such
indexes and generally they specialize in tracking a particular kind of
periodical or a particular subject area. For example, one indexing service
indexes only the contents of major American newspapers; another index focuses on
important social science journals, while still another indexes only engineering
periodicals. The main advantage of the print version of READERS' GUIDE is that it indexes periodicals back to 1890. A main disadvantage is that descriptions of articles can be pretty murky. They strive to condense an immense amount of information into as small a space as possible. Consequently, bibliographic citations contain a lot of abbreviations. If you don't know what these mean, it will be impossible to use the index effectively. Aware of this fact, the publishers of indexes include, usually at the front of the index, an explanation of what their abbreviations and symbols mean, and how to read the citation. The online version of READERS’ GUIDE is available on the Find Articles link of the library homepage, and has several advantages over the printed version: (1) BSU faculty, staff, and students can access it from any Internet connection; (2) it permits keyword searching, in addition to subject and author searches; (3) a search scans the entire database, not just one year; (4) each entry is electronically linked to related articles; (5) the database is updated continuously. Its main disadvantage is that currently indexing only goes back about 20 years, which means that if you need to do research in older periodicals, only the printed version will be helpful. While indexes to periodicals help you discover articles related to your research question, they will not tell you if the specific article you need is actually in our library, or where it is stored. Indexes tell you what exists in the world. They do not tell you what you have access to in Albertsons Library. Finding this information requires that you become familiar with the Library’s online guide to periodicals, The Journals List. To access the Journals List, go to the Library's website and click on Journals in the blue sidebar on the left. The display will look like this:
If you can find the periodical title, it means the library subscribes to it. If the issue you need exists in a printed version, you can link directly to the online catalog to discover where in the Library it is located. If the article is available electronically, you also can link to it directly. The Journals List also links you
to the tables of contents of recent issues of many journals. This feature
enables you to electronically scan journals related to your interests.
Frequently, the Journals List also links you electronically to abstracts
of articles listed in these tables of contents, and sometimes to the full texts
of the articles. To discover whether the Library has, in some form, the article(s) you need, the next step is to type all or part of the title of the newspaper, magazine or journal (NOT the title of the article) in the Quick Search box. Notice that you have four different searching options—partial words, exact words, exact string, and exact phrase—each of which searches in a different way, often with different results. Because a partial word search will display every periodical title that contains either the words you typed or those words as parts of other words (e.g., ecology and gynecology), it can yield a long and often confusing list of titles. So usually it is best to avoid this option unless you are guessing at a title and want a range of choices. If you know the exact full title of the journal you want, the best search option is exact phrase. This option yields only titles that contain exactly the words you type in the exact order in which you type them. The result of an exact phrase search for Journal of Southern History. for example, looks like this:
This display tells you the following:
Finally, notice the Jump To Page box; if your search generated a list longer than will display on one screen, clicking on the arrow will carry you to the next screen where the list of titles is continued. The purpose of the assignment that follows is merely to introduce the Journals List. When you are using the system for an actual search, get help from a reference librarian whenever you get stuck. Click on link to go to the
Assignments page and print Assignment SEVEN |
The
most common periodicals found in libraries are
newspapers, magazines, and scholarly journals.
Periodicals, also referred to as "Serials", are
published at intervals; that is, daily, weekly, biweekly (every 2 weeks),
monthly, or quarterly (every 3 months).
Scholarly journals are also referred to as
"peer reviewed" or "refereed journals" because (1) they are
written by and for scholars, and (2) the articles in journals are read by
experts (peers or referees) before publication to insure that the
content is of professional quality.
The Journals List gives you
access to a
complete, up-to-date list of the Library’s periodicals holdings and
subscriptions. Once
logged onto the Journals List, you can tell not only if the Library offers
access to a particular issue of a periodical, but also which issues are
available in electronic format and which are available in print. 