Q. What is a periodical Index?

A periodical index is a collection of citations for a set of journals, similar to a database, such as EBSCO, ProQuest, etc.

An index will point you to the right periodical, the specific date, volume and issue, and page numbers for the article. A periodical index works like a subject catalog for the articles inside magazines and journals. The process of using an index is similar to the process of doing subject or keyword searches for items in a library catalog. Rasmusson Library has both print indexes in book form and computer-based indexes available through the Internet.