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Step 4: Use indexes to find periodical articles on your topic

 What are periodicals? Popular magazines | Scholarly journals | Trade journals | How to find out which periodical have articles on your topic Print indexes | Databases (electronic indexes) | Interpreting the results of your search | How to find the article in the library | Locations for bound and current periodicals in Newman | Other areas periodicals may be found | Can periodicals be checked-out?

What are periodicals? 

Harrod's Librarians' Glossary (8th ed., Aldershot, Hants., England : Gower, 1995) defines a periodical as "a publication with a distinctive title which appears at stated or regular intervals, without prior decision as to when the last issue shall appear". You may hear periodicals referred to as magazines or newspapers, scholarly journals, or trade journals.

Popular magazines 

• The primary purpose of these periodicals is to produce a profit for the publisher, so they are available for public purchase at stores and newsstands.
• These periodicals as a whole are designed to persuade, to entertain, and to sell advertised products, so the articles are short and are written to entertain and inform the general public.
• Articles may also consist of brief summaries of research done by others.
• The articles are seldom footnoted, and the source for the information is rarely provided.
• The articles are usually written by freelance writers or members of the magazine's staff.
• Articles often are illustrated with color graphics and photographs.
• The advertisements are aimed at the general public.

Examples

• Time
• People
• Reader's Digest
• Psychology Today

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Scholarly journals 

• The primary purpose of scholarly journals is to inform and to report on original research or experimentation.
• These periodicals are usually published by a scholarly professional association or university.
• The editors are usually scholars in the field with established reputations. Before the editors accept an article for publication, it is first reviewed by scholars or researchers in the field.
• Illustrations, if any, are usually graphs or charts, with few color graphics or photographs.
• The articles are lengthy and extensively documented, with all references provided in footnotes or end notes.
• The authors have conducted research in the field and are usually affiliated with a university or research center; authors' credentials are usually listed at the beginning or at the end of the articles.
• The authors write in the language of their discipline; readers, usually other scholars or college students, are assumed to have some knowledge of the field and to be familiar with the jargon.
• Articles are usually preceded by abstracts (summaries).
• Scholarly journals contain few, if any, advertisements.

Examples

• New England Journal of Medicine
• Journal of Safety Research
• Journal of Studies on Alcohol
• Annals of Tourism Research

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Trade journals 

• The primary purpose of trade journals is to provide news and information to people in a particular industry or profession.
• Although these journals can be published by for-profit corporations, they are often published by a professional association. The editorial staff, which selects the articles, consists mainly of individuals with experience or education within the industry or profession.
• The authors are usually practitioners or educators within the industry or profession.
• The articles focus on practical topics of interest to practitioners.
• Although these journals rarely include articles reporting original research, they are excellent sources of statistical information about the industries they cover.
• They often are illustrated with color graphics and photographs similar in nature to the popular magazines.
• These journals often publish employment announcements for job vacancies within the industry or profession.
• The articles may not be extensively documented, providing few footnotes and rarely including bibliographies.
• Advertisements are for industrial or specialized products and are aimed at people in that industry or profession.

Examples

• Women's Wear Daily
• Hotel and Motel Management
• Lodging
• Travel Weekly

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How to find out which periodical has articles on your topic 

Periodical articles may contain a wealth of information in bite-sized chunks. The trick is to determine which periodicals contain information on your topic. For this you must use a periodical index that focuses on your general subject area.

An index is a compilation of short records (or "citations") from periodical articles or books that have been arranged alphabetically by subject. (For example, if you are interested in subjects related to education, you may wish to use an index which has citations to articles or books dealing with just that subject, such as Education Index, a print source, or ERIC, an online source.) Within the index, the subject is then broken down into more specific subjects. So, if you were interested in the topic of "physical education programs in elementary schools", you would be able to locate information on the periodical, volume, issue, and page number for each article on your topic.

To find the index (or indexes) most applicable for your topic, you should Ask a Librarian.

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Print indexes 

Traditional print indexes, such as Education Index or Engineering Index, are being used less frequently since so many of these indexes are now available through computer resources. However, they are still an excellent source of information and are especially handy to use when the electronic versions are temporarily unavailable.

Some subject indexes are only available in the print format. The Library may not subscribe to a particular electronic index or it may not be available electronically.

Another reason to use the print index may be that the time period covered by the electronic index does not extend to the time period you are researching. EBSCO's Academic Search Complete can provide coverage from 1980 to the present on topics of general interest. If you wanted to do research on time periods prior to 1980, you would probably want to use Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature, which provides coverage from 1900 to the present for the same type of topics.

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Databases (electronic indexes) 

An alphabetical listing of electronic databases (a.k.a. indexes) and a brief description of the coverage provided can be accessed from the Library Home Page. You should keep in mind that there may be other databases in the library related to your subject but not on the list. Consult staff at the Reference Desk on second or fourth floor for alternatives.

Search commands may vary from database to database and many database providers include easily readable Help screens or online tutorials. In many cases, the Library can provide a printed guide to assist you in using the varied databases. Consult Reference staff for personal assistance.

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Interpreting the results of your search 

To find the complete text of an article you identified in an index, it is important to understand how to read the citation. Citations in print or electronic formats will look very much the same. Usually print indexes will provide an example and explanation of each part of the citation in the front of the index.

A "citation" will tell you

• the title of an article or book chapter
• the author
• the work in which the article (periodicals) or chapter (books) can be found
• volume and issue number and/or date of issue (for periodical articles) or publisher information and year published (for books)
• page numbers (beginning page number for periodical articles; inclusive page numbers for book chapters/sections)

Other information, such as section number/column number (for newspaper articles), length of the article, series title, etc. may sometimes be included. Abstracts (or summaries) of the article cited may or may not be available, depending on the index. If full-text is available online (and, often it isn't, there will be a message indicating that you may "view text" or that "full-text is available online". No print index includes the full text of the article.

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How to find the article in the library 

If you have used an index to look for articles on your subject and the full-text is not available from electronically, you will then need to find the copy of the article in the Library. University Libraries may or may not own the periodical you need. To find out if we own it and where it is located you must use the library's online catalog, Addison to look up the title of the periodical (not the title of the article).

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Locations for bound and current periodicals in Newman Library 

Periodicals are assigned a Library of Congress call number placing them with other periodicals and books of similar subject focus. In most cases, older periodicals are bound and shelved in the regular book collection according to the call number and location assigned. "Current" or unbound periodicals are kept in the Current Periodicals collection on the fourth floor, unless otherwise noted on the Addison holdings screen.

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Other areas periodicals may be found 

Within Newman Library

• There are several other locations of which you should be aware when looking for periodicals. These locations will be indicated on the holdings, item, or circulation screens of the Addison record. Those areas are:
• Reserve
• Microforms
• Government Documents
• Special Collections

The Branches and Storage

University Libraries at Virginia Tech includes three branch libraries and a Storage facility. Periodicals located at these locations are cataloged in Library of Congress call numbers and organized in a similar manner within their own collections.

If a periodical title (or book) is housed in a branch or the Storage facility, that location will be indicated on holdings, item, or circulation screens of the Addison record.

Branches

• Art + Architecture Library
• Northern Virginia Center
• Veterinary Medicine

Storage

Many of our older or less frequently used periodicals (and books) are housed in Storage. University Libraries provides timely retrieval of books and/or periodicals located in Storage through the Request button in Addison. The Storage facility is not officially considered a Branch Library since it is not open to the public for browsing or reference services at the site.

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Can periodicals be checked-out? 

Current periodicals do not normally circulate from Newman, Art + Architecture, Veterinary Medicine, or Northern Virginia Center branch libraries. Bound journals circulate for seven days.

Journals located in the Storage facility circulate 21 days with no renewals. Requests to use the journals made be placed electronically through the Request button in Addison.

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