Hartwick college

The library provides three types of access to periodical literature.

• On the third floor of the library in the periodical area, there are print periodicals. These are arranged alphabetically according to title.  Periodicals do not have Library of Congress call numbers like the books in the library.
• There are databases available on-line that provide the full text of articles (For example, Proquest and SocIndex with Full Text). 
• There are periodical indexes available on-line that provide citations to periodical literature, but not the full text. (For example, Historical Abstracts or  General Science Abstracts) In some cases, the library may have full text either through another database or in print.  For example, Proquest and EBSCO Academic Search have full text for the journal Clio, but History Cooperative does not.

If Hartwick or SUCO do not have the journal you need, or coverage of the particular dates that you need, you can order the article on Interlibrary Loan. (See Locating the Full Text)

The key aid to finding whether or not Hartwick has a given periodical is the library catalog. Search the library catalog for the name of the periodical using a journal title search. The search result will indicate if the library has the periodical, what years of coverage are available, and how to access it.

There are a variety of periodical indexes and databases available at the library, some of which are designed for research in a particular discipline, (for example, Art Index is a particularly good source for Art History) and some of which are multidisciplinary (for example, EBSCO Academic Search). Some include only scholarly publications (PsychInfo and JSTOR), others also include articles from popular journals and newspapers (Proquest and Lexis Nexis). It is important to be aware of the differences between these sources when you chose one or another to begin your research. The databases and periodical indexes available at the library are paid subscription services that are not available through a regular web browser.

It is important to understand the differences between the different types of periodical articles, however, the major difference is made between popular and scholarly articles. The table below describes the key differences:

We offer a broad range of indexes, some of these contain only academic journal entries, some only entries from popular periodicals, and others include both variations. The majority of our indexes are available online, though we have a selected set of indexes in print for articles published earlier than online indexing coverage begins. Many on-line indexes only go back as far as the 80's or 90's. Print indexes are still useful and important.

In addition, it is important to distinguish between online indexes that include the full-text of the cited article and others that only provide a citation or a citation with an abstract (the abstract gives a short summary of the content). There are also a quite a few indexes that have a mix of both variations.

The table below provides a quick overview of Hartwick's major online indexes:

*Size is defined by the total amount of journals indexed: Small = 100 and below; Medium = 100 -1000; Large = over 1000.

For further information on selecting the right database for a given topic see the breakdown of indexes by subject

In cases where the full text is not provided with the citation, you may be able to find the full text either on another database or on library's 3rd Floor in print.

• Search the library catalog for the name of the journal (journal title search). The catalog will indicate whether we have the item or not. The catalog entry for the journal will also provide information on

a) available format: print, electronic, or microfilm (or combinations thereof)
b) date coverage: issues and volumes by year that are available / accessible.

• If Hartwick does not carry the journal, or does not have the dates needed - check the SUCO catalog (search name of the journal in title field).
• If neither Hartwick nor SUCO has the needed issue of the journal you may request the article through interlibrary loan. Click here for more information on the ILL process.
• If you have any questions about locating an article, don't hesitate to ask a reference librarian!

Update 6/22/09