Periodicals: An Introduction

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Periodicals An Introduction

• LIB 120
• Amanda Izenstark

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What is a periodical?

• A periodical is a publication appearing at
  regular and fixed intervals of time (e.g. daily,
  weekly, monthly, quarterly, or even annually)
  under a distinctive title. Its contents are
  usually some mixture of articles, reviews,
  stories, or other writings by several
  contributors.Source Feather, John and Paul
  Sturges, eds. International Encyclopedia of
  Information and Library Science. New York
  Routledge, 1997.

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Why use periodical information?

• Periodicals contain current information.
• Periodicals contain information that is not (and
  may never be) available on the Internet.
• Scholarly or peer reviewed periodicals contain
  primary research.

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What kinds of periodicals are there, and why
should I care?

• The quality and characteristics of the
  information found in periodicals varies.
• You will often be asked to find information from
  a particular type of periodical, for example a
  refereed or "peer reviewed" scholarly journal.

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Types of Periodicals

• Newspapers
• Issued at stated, frequent intervals (usually
  daily, weekly, or semi-weekly), containing news,
  opinions, advertisements, and other items of
  current, often local, interest.
• New York Times, Providence Journal, Boston Globe,
  Christian Science Monitor

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Types of Periodicals

• Popular Magazines
• Magazines are periodicals for general reading,
  containing articles on various topics by
  different authors. You can find these on a
  newsstand.
• Time, Newsweek, Rolling Stone, The Nation

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Types of Periodicals

• Trade or Special Interest Magazines
• These are periodicals for professionals or people
  with a special interest in a field, containing
  articles on various subject-specific topics by
  different authors.
• Psychology Today, Adweek, Science News

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Types of Periodicals

• Scholarly / Academic / Peer Reviewed /
  Refereed Journals
• A journal is a periodical, especially one
  containing scholarly articles and/or
  disseminating current information on research and
  development in a particular field.
• Journal of the American Medical Association,
  Hemingway Review