Periodicals

How do I get...? ¶

Description
The main collection of periodicals (journals, magazines and newspapers) is located on the second floor of Owens Library. Owens Library currently holds 1567 journal/magazine titles and 60 newspapers. Periodicals are not circulated outside the library. You can search the library catalog to find the call number and location for the periodical you want. Periodicals can be found on Reserve, on the bound periodicals shelves, in film and fiche cabinets, and in the browsing section for recent issues of some periodicals.

Assistance
There is a Periodicals Office located in the center of second floor. Assistance for locating periodicals is available in this office. If no one is available in the Periodicals Office, please ask for assistance at the Library Services Desk on first floor.

Periodicals Office Staff

Periodical Articles
The easiest approach to finding a periodical article is to use an index. Numerous specialized indexes can be found through the library's Search for Articles Web page or on the index tables near the Reference Collection. Other indexes can be found on the North wall of first floor.

Please keep in mind the following points when searching for a periodical.

Most periodicals are shelved in Library of Congress call number order. Each individual periodical title has the same call number regardless of its format (fiche, film or bound volumes).
A Library of Congress call number consists of a scheme of letters and numbers, for example:

5001

.F7

Read all the call number lines on each periodical as you come to it.
The first line of the call number is a letter or letters. They signify certain areas of study and are arranged alphabetically. If there is a second or third letter in the first line of the call number, continue to proceed alphabetically. If not, move on to the second line of the call number. For example, the following are in correct order:

KFC

The second line consists of a whole number and should be in order from 1 to 9999. On occasion, the second line of the call number will have a decimal attached to the whole number. The following are in correct order:

HF	HF	HF	HF	Z
1	5001	5549	5549.5	716.3

The third, and generally, the final line should first be considered alphabetically and then as a decimal, so that .F19 would be found on the shelf before .F9. If there is a fourth line, it too should be treated the same as the third line. The following are in correct order:

HF	HF	HF	HF	HF
5001	5001	5549	5549.5	5549.5
.B89	.F6	.F7	.T7	.T7
				.T67

Not all of the articles listed in the periodical indexes are available in Owens Library. Periodicals listed das "Available in Owens Library" means that the title is held locally, but the library holdings should be checked in the library catalog to see which issues are available. If the periodical article you want is not available in Owens Library or full-text online, Interlibrary Loan (ILL) is your answer. The ILL staff will attempt to obtain a copy of the periodical article for you from another library. There is a fee associated with this service. Fill out an online ILL request form available from the front page of the library's web site. Please allow at least two weeks for delivery of ILL materials.

Reading and Copying
There are several machines located on the second floor to help you in reading and copying articles. There are 3 photocopiers, 1 fiche copier, 2 fiche/film copiers, 7 fiche readers, and 7 film readers.

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