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HUMANITIES
CORE COURSE |
Discovery Task 3: Using Periodical Indexes to Find Information from and about Journal Articles
Read
all instructions first! |
HINT: Read all the instructions, including the worksheets, before you start the assignment.
| PROBLEM: | This Discovery Task asks you to look at information about journal articles from two different electronic periodical indexes (sometimes referred to as databases) and to compare the information found in each of them. You will look for articles about images of the French Revolution to make observations about the kind of information you find in each of the indexes. |
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OBJECTIVES: |
• Learn what a periodical index or abstract is. • Learn to use two subject specific periodical indexes, the Historical Abstracts and the MLA International Bibliography to find citations to articles, book chapters, books and dissertations on the French Revolution. • Learn what clues to the content (subject) of an article are available through electronic periodical indexes. |
INSTRUCTIONS TO STUDENTS
The learning objective of this Discover Task is to introduce you to two subject
specific electronic periodical indexes, the Historical Abstracts and
the MLA International Bibliography. You will look up information about
images of the French Revolution in each of these databases and compare the information
you find. This assignment does not require you to come into the Library. You
can access these files from any computer on campus or from home.
Read ALL the instructions before you begin the assignment.
DEFINITIONS |
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| PERIODICAL: | A periodical is a publication such as a magazine, newspaper or journal that has a distinctive title, is intended to appear at regular intervals (e.g. daily, weekly, monthly, annually) and has different content in each issue. Examples of periodicals are Sports Illustrated, Los Angeles Times, or Tulsa Studies in Women's Literature. Periodicals are available in print, on microfilm and microfiche and electronically. In this exercise, you will locate an article in a print or microform journal. |
PERIODICAL INDEX: |
A periodical index is a library reference tool which helps you find information on a topic in a newspaper, magazine or scholarly journal. A periodical index in an electronic format is often referred to as a database. Examples of periodical indexes are the Expanded Academic ASAP (InfoTrac) database, Historical Abstracts, and the MLA International Bibliography. |
BIBLIOGRAPHIC CITATION: |
Citations, in the research world, have nothing to do with traffic tickets. Instead, citations identify published information - print or electronic - in order to locate that item again. Citations for articles usually include the 1) author's name, 2) title of the article, 3) name of the journal or magazine, 4) volume number, 5) issue number, 6) date of the journal or magazine issue, and 7) pages where the article appeared. Citations of Web documents also include a URL and the day the information was accessed. |
The list of the sources you used when researching your paper is a bibliography. The bibliography allows others who read your work to verify facts or research the same information more easily. These sources are listed in citation format and follow an established style, such as MLA (Modern Language Association), APA (American Psychological Association) or Chicago Manual of Style. |
There are a few things that you should know before you begin your discovery task.
1. Periodical indexes are
finding tools. They help you to locate information in journals and magazines,
but they may not include the full text of the articles.
2. You already know that there are different ways to use computers to perform
the same tasks. This assignment is going to give you one set of instructions
on how to access and use these two databases. You may find other ways that make
more sense or seem easier to you.
To begin your task:
The first periodical index you are going to look at is Historical Abstracts.
Here is one way to access this database.
1. Start from the UCI Libraries Homepage (http://www.lib.uci.edu/
)
2. Click on Article Databases
3. Click on the letter H and scroll down until you see Historical Abstracts.
4. Click on the link to Historical Abstracts (http://serials.abc-clio.com/cgi-bin/nph-AppStart.py2.1?_appname=v3&initialdb=HA)
5. Read this paragraph which describes the content of Historical Abstracts and
then answer the questions which follow.
Historical Abstracts
Location:
http://serials.abc-clio.com/cgi-bin/nph
AppStart.py2.1?_appname=v3&initialdb=HA
Description:
Historical
Abstracts is a bibliographic database containing citations to articles
on the history of the world from 1450 to the present (excluding the United
States and Canada, which are covered in America: History and Life). Published
since 1954, Historical Abstracts currently indexes over 2,000 journals
published throughout the world. In addition to including the key historical
journals from virtually every major country, Historical Abstracts includes
a targeted selection of hundreds of journals in the social sciences and
humanities that are of special interest to researchers and students of
history. |
• What kinds of materials are covered by Historical Abstracts?
• What topics does the Historical Abstracts cover?
• Why are you using Historical Abstracts to find information about the French Revolution?
6. When you have answered the questions, enter the word "images" in the Keyword search box and the words "French Revolution" in the Subject search box, and click on the Search key.
7. Scroll through the list
of entries and try to answer these questions.
• How many citations did your search find?
• What topics do these citations cover?
• What are the titles of some of the journals that are indexed?
8. In some cases, Historical Abstracts will link you to electronic copies of journal articles. Write the title of one article that is available electronically.
9. Choose a citation that looks like it might help you understand more about the French Revolution and fill out the information requested below. Which of these pieces of information are required for the bibliographic citation?
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Now you are going to look at the MLA International Bibliography.
Follow these instructions
to access the MLA.
1. Return to the UCI Libraries' Homepage by entering the URL: http://www.lib.uci.edu/
2. Click on Article Databases.
3. Click on the letter "M" and scroll down to the link for
the MLA Bibliography (via Ovid).
4. Use the information in the following paragraph to answer the questions.
Produced by the Modern Language Association of America, the
MLA International Bibliography indexes critical scholarship on literature, language,
linguistics and folklore. Coverage includes journal articles, series, monographs,
dissertations, bibliographies, proceedings and other materials. The database
includes all records indexed from 1963 to the present, approximately 1,400,000
records.
• What kinds of materials (books, journal articles, dissertations, etc.) are included in the MLA?
• What topics does the MLA cover?
5. When you have answered the questions, enter the phrase " French Revolution" in the keyword search box.
6. Limit your search to journal articles and English language.
7. Select the Perform search button to begin your search.
8. Click on Display and try to answer these questions.
• How many citations did your search find?
• What topics do these citations cover?
• What are the titles of some of the journals that are indexed?
Find a reference to an article that you think will help you to understand more about the French Revolution and fill out the information requested below. Which pieces of information are required for the bibliographic citation?
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9. The MLA Bibliography
is enhanced by the presence of a tool called 
.
This tool links to information about the location of electronic and print copies
of journal articles. Click on the
icon for the article entitled "Susanna at her bath" for an example
of how to link to an electronic copy of the journal article. For more information
about the use of ,
click on the "More" button on the
screen or go to http://www.cdlib.org/guides/ucelinks/.
10. Finally, write one or two short paragraphs that compare and contrast Historical Abstracts and MLA International Bibliography periodical indexes. Summarize what you discovered about each index and highlight the differences and similarities between these two finding tools.