Indexes and Abstracts are the tools we use to find articles from journals, magazines, serials, periodicals, newspapers, etc., although some specialized sources will index books, government documents, and other monographic items. Look for what is unique about each of these sources. Any introduction pages the source may have is a good place to start.
We in the library profession often use the term 'indexes' to mean both 'indexes' and 'abstracts.' I will do that from time to time as well. The only real difference between the two are that indexes only contain the citation information, whereas abstracts contain the citation PLUS a sentence or two or a paragraph explaining what the article is about. It's like a summary of the article and it's called an 'abstract.' You could think of it as an annotation.
So, what's a citation? It's the basic information one needs in order to find an article within its journal, whether or not the library owns the journal. A citation includes:
Depending on which style guide one uses, these six items may be arranged
a little differently, but they should all be there.
Guides
These guides contain lists of periodical titles. To a certain extent,
then, these guides can be considered bibliographies! But I included
them here because they deal specifically with periodicals.
| ** Ulrich’s Int’l Periodicals Directory | Ref. Desk, Ref. Z6941.U5 |
| ** Index and Abstract Directory | Ref. Desk, Ref. Z695.93.I52 |
| * Serials Directory | Ref. Desk, Ref. Z6941.S4 |
General
| ** Biography Index | Indexes, 3A |
| ** Book Review Digest | Indexes, 2A |
| ** Humanities Index | Indexes, 1B |
| ** Monthly Catalog | Indexes, 1B |
| ** Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature | Indexes, 1A |
| ** Short Story Index | Ref. Z5917.S5 C62 |
| ** Social Sciences Index | Indexes, 1B |
| * Dissertation Abstracts International | Indexes, 12B |
| * Essay and General Literature Index | Indexes, 1A |
| * Biography and Genealogy Master Index | Indexes, 3A |
| # New York Times Index | Indexes, 2A |
| # Wall Street Journal Index | Indexes, 4B |
Questions to consider:
What's the difference between an indexing and an abstracting service?
Where does the index list what journals and magazines it covers?
What areas of interest or disciplines do each of these resources cover?
(Hint: Check the Introduction Page, if any)
Does the resource cover books, monographs, or sources other than periodical articles?
Is the resource international in scope?
Is the resource available in an online version?
Sample Questions for Indexes and Abstracts:
Note: These questions cover all the Indexes and Abstracts we'll
be discussing: General, Subject, and Electronic. You may find the answers
all today, or you may have to wait until you review the others over the
next few days. Or you may find the answers from all three types of Indexes
and Abstracts. In fact, it's probably not a bad idea to see which questions
you can answer from all three types.
What is the cost of the magazine entitled Theology Today?
I need to find three reviews of Jim Lovell’s book, “Lost Moon: The Perilous
Voyage of Apollo 13" which came out in 1994.
Who publishes Badminton Now?
In 1991, a curriculum guide was put out that involved teaching the Bill
of Rights to elementary kids. Can you find more information about
that?
What is the circulation of a magazine called Sea History?
I need to find two recent articles on paper recycling. How do
I do that?
I think I saw an article in Forbes a couple of years ago about Lego
building a theme park in California. Can you find the citation for
that article?
I forgot to get the volume and page numbers for my article, “Dame Ninette
de Balois: The Mother of British Ballet.” It was in Dance Magazine.
This library has the Journal of Communication. Where can I look up recent articles that appeared in that journal about mass communication.