For example, a citation for an article tells you the journal in which the article appeared, the volume and issue number, the page numbers, and the length of the article. Most books are usually shelved by call number, which help to group books on the same subject together. Read the Database Basics part of this tutorial to learn more about using databases. This electronic catalog tells you what books, magazines, journals, movies, government publications and other materials the IU Libraries have. The word serial is also used to describe a magazine or a journal as well as a newspaper.
Periodicals are good sources for contemporary or current information.
There are different types of periodicals. For example, there are scholarly journals and there are popular magazines and they have different purposes. Most periodical indexes today are computer databases. The articles are targeted at the general public and do not assume familiarity with the subject. People, Time, Spin, Entertainment Weekly are examples of popular magazines.