Federal Government Documents Tutorial
Periodical Indexes
Many government agencies publish periodicals. These titles
include the scholarly Journal of the National Cancer Institute;
statistical publications, such as Economic Indicators and the CPI
Detailed Report; military journals like Soldiers. Two other
examples are the Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents and
Park Science from the National Park Service. Government
periodical titles are frequently one of the best sources of information about
current events. Outside newspapers, for example, the military
periodicals were the first sources to have reports about the Iraqi War.
There have been two publications that index the contents of
federal government periodicals.
Index to U.S. Government Periodicals: a computer-generated
guide to 170 selected titles by author and subject (1970 - 1987)
The Index to U.S. Government Periodicals has a single index
of authors, titles, and subjects. Its article citations include
periodical title abbreviations along with the customary volume, number, pages,
and date. The preface includes a list of the full titles that are
included in the index volume. This set of indexes is in the Reference
stacks at Z 1223.Z7 I55. During east wing renovation, this title
will be found in the sixth floor bookstacks with the majority of the reference
volumes. The index's publisher, Infordata, fell on hard times, and the
title ceased with the 1987 volume.
U.S. Government Periodicals Index (1992 to present, with
retrospective coverage for 1988-1991)
But again CIS came to the rescue with the U.S. Government
Periodicals Index. It "covers approximately 180 federal publications
that have research, reference, or general interest value." Although the
CIS title began in 1992, the company indexed the same titles for the span of
years 1988-1991 to close the gap left by the Infordata title.
The U.S. Government Periodicals Index is another electronic
resource provided to NCSU patrons via the LexisNexis Government
Periodicals Index.
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