Periodical and newspaper articles are important research materials. Periodicals and newspapers contain the most recent information on a subject, cover topics too new or too specific to be covered by books, and give the trend of interest or opinion relating to a current issue or event. Professional periodicals report the latest research and developments in a field of interest. Knowing the characteristics of the major types of periodicals will help you to use these sources more effectively. To locate information in periodicals and newspapers you must use an index to locate the specific article title, title of periodical or newspaper, date of the issue, and the page numbers.
Magazines are general interest periodicals .
They are intended for a popular audience or for the general reader. They are usually easy to read and understand even by a student with no background in the subject. Most of the magazines in a library are indexed in Readers' Guide and Periodical Abstracts . Many journals are issued quarterly, whereas many magazines are issued weekly or monthly. Journals are indexed in subject indexes like Art Index , ERIC , or Humanities Index .