This page explains how to use online and print indexes to find articles on a given topic, how to obtain copies of articles from your computer, from Conant Library's journal collection, from other area institutions, or through Interlibrary Loan, and how to cite sources. To search for articles, use a periodical index. When doing research it is important to recognize they are not. In general, if you are doing any in-depth research on a subject you will want to use articles from journals. Periodical indexes, whether print or computerized versions, provide citations and abstracts that help identify an article.
Most indexes follow the same basic entry form.
Once you learn to interpret a typical index entry, you will be able, with minor variations, to analyze and use them all. For example, here is a citation from InfoTrac , formerly called SearchBank with a key to each element. If you are using a print index or are unable to obtain the full text of an article online, you will need all of the above information in order to obtain a copy of the article and, if you are doing a research paper, for your bibliography. The first step in using an index is to choose the appropriate one. Each major academic discipline has at least one index devoted to periodical articles in its field.