| Finding Articles Not Available Online |
There are times when you need to research a topic not currently covered in the news. The two resources for finding older articles at SRJC Libraries are the Print indexes Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature and the New York Times Index. These sources only list citations of articles and do not contain the full text of the article. The citation gives you all of the information you need to locate the actual article in the actual magazine in the library. Most print periodical indexes are hardbound annually in book form and you must search a separate volume for each year. These indexes are a valuable source for locating information published before the 1980s. |
| Print Indexes |
Print Periodical Indexes are books, bound into yearly volumes, used to locate magazine, journal and newspaper articles. Print Indexes are a valuable tool for locating articles written prior to the 1980s when computers came into more widespread public use. On occasion research is needed on a topic not currently covered in the news or from the perspective of writers at the time the event took place. |
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Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature
Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature is a print periodical index used to locate topics of general interest.
Readers' Guide is located in the Reference Collection at Doyle and Mahoney Libraries (Ref AI3.R48). |
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| You can search Readers' Guide by subject terms, keyword and often by author. The following example illustrates how to use Readers' Guide to locate an article on the Vietnam War. |
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Determine the dates the war happened.(1957-1975)
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Locate a specific year's edition of Readers' Guide. (1967). For a topic spanning a range of years you would look in the volumes for the entire range of years.
- Notice the subject heading used by Readers' Guide (Vietnamese war) is different than the topic Vietnam War.
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| Readers' Guide lists the citations, which is all of the information you need to find the article in the library. |
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| Citation
An article citation contains: the title of the article, the author (if given), the magazine or newspaper name, the volume, page number and date. This is the same information needed to cite the article in MLA or APA format. |
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Diagram of article citing Vietnamese war in Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature.
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article title / author / magazine title / volume / page / date
New light on wrangle over civilian casualaties; concerning report in New York Times.
R.W. Apple, jr. U.S. News 62:11 Mr 6 '67. |
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| For practice locate the following citation elements from the citation show above. Note the citation from the print periodical index is more cryptic (using abbreviations) than the citation from the electronic databases. Why do you think this would be the case? |
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- Title of the article
- Author
- Periodical title
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For a list of complete Periodical titles, look to the front of the Index for the List of Journal (magazine) Abbreviations.
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| The New York Times Index |
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Brief summaries give you an overview of the news. By looking up a subject in the index, you can read short summaries of events reported from the beginning of the year to the end.
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Citations give you the information to locate the full text of articles on microfilm. Entries are arranged chronologically under subject headings. Each entry is followed by the citation which includes date, section, page and column.
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This index is a valuable tool for locating articles published prior to the 1980s.
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The following example illustrates how to use the New York Times Index.
Look up a subject for short article summaries reported from the beginning of the year to the end. The index uses general subject headings which are not based on the Library of Congress Subject Headings. Entries of unusual interest are set in bold-face type. |
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| Entries for newspaper articles are arranged chronologically under subject headings and are followed by a brief summary. After 1974 some citations include the length of the article: (L) long, (M) medium and (S) short. |
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| For practice, use the following graphic to determine who began a campaign to discourage unfavorable reports about the South Vietnamese Army. |
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| You can also look up a topic by a specific name, place or event |
| Example: |
Deaths |
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Fisher, MFK
MFK Fisher writer on food, dies at 83: photo (M) JE 23. B. 6:1 |
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| Locating Articles in the Library |
| he SRJC libraries' holdings of periodicals are listed by title in the Library Catalog. To determine if the library owns the periodical containing the article you must do a title search in the Library Catalog. Search in the catalog by the title of the magazine not the title of the article. |
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| Periodicals are stored in four forms in the Library: |
- Bound - book format
- Microfilm - small cartridges of film
- Microfiche - small squares of film
- Paper Issue - current issues of magazines
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| Microfilm and microfiche are read on machines that project them as a readable image onto a screen. The information from the citation is used to locate an article. The Microform Reader/Printer machines can also make copies of your articles. Ask for help at the library to learn how to use the microform machines. |
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| Look up the journal title in the Periodicals Holdings List, which describes the various formats of periodicals in this library. |
TIME
DOYLE -SANTA ROSA
LIBRARY HAS; V.21- (1993-PRESENT)
Microfilm: v.75-103 (1960-74)
Microfiche: V21-74;104-V.166#13 (1933-59, 1974-SEP 26 2005
Paper Issues: V.166#14-(OCT 3 2005-PRESENT
Problems: MISSING: V.166#13 (SEP 26 2005)
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Citations lead to articles on microfilm. Go to the Microfilm cabinets in the Periodicals area of the library. To view or copy the article use the microfilm readers.
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Note: the current month of the New York Times is kept at the Periodicals Desk
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| Most of the library's older periodicals, newspapers and magazines, are stored on microfilm and microfiche (pronounced my-kro-feesh), small plates of film the size of a postcard. |
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