CSS Library Lab Instructors Quizzes Vocabulary Sample Worksheets Citations FAQs CSS Library Homepage Overview Journals Magazines Professional/Trade Periodicals in Research Proprietary Databases Finding an Article Creating a Citation Finding More Articles InterLibrary Loan

The College of St. Scholastica Library Lab Worksheet Four: Finding Journal Articles Using a Print Index A print index serves the same function as a database. It allows the researcher ready access to a list of journal articles pertaining to a given topic. Up until approximately 1990, print indexes were the main access point for finding citations to articles (citations only, since obviously the full-text of the article could not be in the index!). As a general rule, if you are looking for articles older than the mid 1980’s, you will need to use a print index. The CSS Library keeps older indexes for just this reason, and still maintains current subscriptions to selected print indexes; a complete list of indexes is available on Print Indexes Available in The College of St. Scholastica Library. Worksheet Four allows for the option of using a print index. REMEMBER, you only need to find three article citations. If you have already done that, then skip this section. Certain topics lend themselves better to print indexes, and that is why this option is available. Follow these steps for finding a citation for an article in a print index. 1.  Use Print Indexes Available in The College of St. Scholastica Library to select a print index that is relevant to your topic. 2.  Locate the index. Current indexes are located on the index tables on the first floor, across from the Library's Circulation Desk.  Older and/or discontinued indexes are located on shelving on the first floor or along the side wall of the second floor of the Library. 3.  The indexing of articles is a time-consuming process. Add on the time to publish the index, and usually the most current index available is at least three months behind the current date. The most current index are usually paperbacks that cover a range of a month or two (i.e. January – March 2003). At the end of each year a hardcover version of the index is published that covers a year's worth of citations.

4)  Indexes are arranged by subject headings. These are usually listed in bold-face type and flush with the left-hand margin of the column. For most subject headings subheadings and cross-references (See also) will be supplied.

Here is an example from The Social Science Index (April 2001 to March 2002)- 

5.  Choose a citation of interest. The individual part of the index citation are - 

6.  Determine the full title of the journal the article is published in. In order to save space, the publishers of print indexes created a system of abbreviations for the title of journals. You will need to have the full title of the journal in order to determine if the CSS Library subscribes to it.

In order to do this, go to the front of the index you are working with and locate the “Abbreviations of Periodicals Indexed.” This is an alphabetical listing of the abbreviated titles of the periodicals covered in the index, and a key to the full title of the periodical.

Here is an example from the "Abbreviations of Periodicals Indexed" of Social Sciences Index –

Death Stud – Death Studies
Demography – Demography
Dev Psychol – Developmental Psychology
Dissent – Dissent
Drugs Soc – Drugs & Society

Look at the difference between the three -

The index citation:

Women's health and pregnancy outcomes: do services make a
     difference?  E. Frankenberg and D. Thomas.  bibl  tab
    Demography  v38  no2  p253-65  My  2001

Frankenberg, Elizabeth, and Thomas S. Duncan. "Women’s Health and Pregnancy Outcomes: Do Services Make a Difference?" Demography
     38.2 (2001): 253-265. 

The same citation in APA style -

Frankenberg, E., & Duncan, T. S. (2001). Women’s health and pregnancy outcomes: Do services make a difference? Demography
     38 (2), 253-265. 

SO, don't just copy what you see in the index. Follow  this link for a guide for creating a proper citation for your paper's bibliography.
 
 

Getting Your Hands on a Copy of the Article

Follow this link to access the CSS Library's Periodical List to determine whether or not the CSS Library subscribes to a particular journal or magazine.

If the CSS Library does not subscribe to a particular journal or magazine, follow this link to learn about how the Library will obtain for you a copy of the article you want.
 

Worksheet Questions

b. FINDING A THIRD ARICLE USING A PRINT INDEX
a. Select on of the following print indexes:

a.  Select an index listed above and list the title here:  __________________________________________________________________

b.  What year are you using?  (i.e. 95-96)  __________

c.  Locate a citation on your topic.  What page of the index does the citation appear on?  __________

Create a proper MLA or APA citation for your article:
The following citation is in:  _____ MLA style _____ APA style

Citation:  _______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Does the CSS Library subscribe to the journal or magazine?  Yes  _____  No  _____