They integrate and improve access to the ever-increasing body of primary literature by organizing, repackaging, compiling and editing primary sources. To identify secondary sources appropriate for a particular discipline or topic, consult guides to the literature and library catalogs. See the Selected Bibliography of Science Reference Sources for specific secondary sources available at the College. Literature Type Description Indexes and Abstracts Indexes provide the most efficient means of subject or author access to science information published in widely-dispersed primary literature. Relevant citations to works on a subject include such information as the title and author of the article, the title, volume, issue, and publication date of the periodical, and the pages on which the article appears.
Abstracts are extensions of indexes which include a summary, or abstract, of the article.
Abstracts often provide enough information to determine whether or not the entire article is needed. They may be multidisciplinary in their coverage, provide comprehensive coverage of a major discipline, or focus on a narrow subdiscipline. Some indexes are intended for use by a lay audience, covering a very limited number of popular periodicals. Other indexes and abstracts are intended for professionals in a field of science, and cover an extensive list of peer-reviewed journals as well as review literature, conference proceedings, patents, and other primary sources. The classified subject heading arrangement of abstracts tends to be more complex than the simple alphabetical arrangement of indexes.