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Indexes

Indexes provide citation information for sources found in a particular set of publications. Many indexes also include abstracts — brief descriptions — that can help you determine whether a source is worth locating and reviewing. The following types of indexes can be found in libraries:

Periodical indexes list sources published in magazines, trade journals, scholarly journals, and newspapers. Some periodical indexes, such as The Reader’s Guide to Periodical Literature, cover a wide range of general-interest publications. Others, such as Art Index, focus on periodicals that address a single subject. Still others focus on a small set or even an individual periodical; The New York Times Index, for example, lists articles published only in that newspaper and organizes entries by subject, geography, organization, and references to individuals.
Indexes of materials in books can help you locate articles in edited books. Turn to resources such as the Essay and General Literature Index, which indexes nearly five thousand book-length collections of articles and essays in the arts, humanities, and social sciences. You might also find subject-specific indexes. The Cumulative Bibliography of Asian Studies, for example, covers articles in edited books.
Pamphlet indexes list the pamphlets that libraries frequently collect. If your subject is likely to be addressed in pamphlets, ask a reference librarian whether your library has a pamphlet index. You can also consult the Vertical File Index, which lists roughly three thousand brief sources on ten to fifteen newsworthy topics each month.
Government documents indexes list publications from federal, state, and local governments. The most useful indexes include Monthly Catalog of United States Government Publications, CIS Index to Publications of the United States Congress, Congressional Record (for daily proceedings of the House of Representatives and the Senate), United States Reports (for Supreme Court documents), and Statistical Abstract of the United States (for census data and other statistical records). These types of indexes might be found in either the reference room or a separate government documents collection in your library. Ask a reference librarian for help.
Citation indexes allow you to determine which sources make reference to other publications, a useful strategy for finding sources that are engaged in the same conversation. For example, to learn which sources refer to an article published in a scientific journal, consult the Science Citation Index.