Abstracts are extremely useful because they give you a clue about the value of the journal article or item. ASAP indexes now include full-text of articles in a large selected list of periodicals. Ebsco Host and UMI ProQuest also have many full-text journals. Project Muse is a good choice to explore for humanities. In the near future, academic libraries will offer more and more full-text resources.
Newspapers are a special type of periodical.
Ramsey Library subscribes to both national and local newspapers. Ramsey Library Newspapers for a list of current subscriptions.