If you need just a few articles, this can just as efficient in locating information as using on-line sources. You can rapidly glance and browse through pages. The disadvantage is that you can only search a year and sometimes a few months at a time and must go through volumes individually. Current news items will not be indexed for a couple of months. Select the most appropriate index by using the Indexes and Abstracts handout.
Checklists are available for several of the indexes.
Each checklist, found in the revolving stand next to the index area, lists current journals received by our library which are covered by a particular index. A checklist is particularly useful when you must select from numerous entries published within the past five years. Periodical Databases are similar to printed indexes but have some distinct advantages when doing research. They allow users to search years in seconds and to do keyword searching. Words may be combined with additional terms to help narrow down a topic.