Instead of pursuing a needle-in-a-haystack approach by browsing through the tables of contents of many periodicals, use periodical indexes. They will help you pinpoint periodicals containing specific articles about your topic.

This Library has periodical indexes. Some (print) are located in the Indexes Area on Level 1. Some (electronic) are found by accessing the Library's homepage through computers in the Library's InfoCommons on Level 2.

Periodical Indexes index articles found in many periodicals, much like a book indexes its pages.

Periodicals = Magazines, Journals and Newspapers

 Each periodical index covers

• Certain subjects

• A number of identifiable periodicals

• Specific years

EXAMPLE: InfoTrac covers
- All subjects
- Over 1800 periodicals
- 1980 to present

Periodical Indexes are either electronic (database) or print (paper).

• A list of the Library’s Electronic Databases

• A list of the Library’s Print Indexes

Important points to remember as you use electronic and print

• Some topics may only be extensively covered by print indexes

• Electronic databases do not cover as many years as print indexes do

EXAMPLES:
InfoTrac 1980 to present
Readers’ Guide 1890 to present
New York Times Index 1851 to present

• When the computer system goes down, some print indexes are still available