In order to find material written before the early 1980s, you'll often need to use a printed index. Most computerized indexes available in this and other libraries began being produced during the 1980s, and the index publishers haven't gone back to convert earlier material to computerized format. Different indexes have different starting dates where computerized format is concerned, but most date from the early or middle 1980s. ERIC, a database containing citations to material on education-related topics, is an exception; material in ERIC dates from 1966.

Printed indexes are useful, not only for locating older, published material, but for locating material in specific subject areas for which Reed Library does not have an electronic database. All print indexes are located in the reference area on the first floor of the library. In general, the most current years of each index or abstract title are kept on index tables. Earlier years are on index shelves. Indexes and abstracts are arranged alphabetically by title, not by a call number.

Searching for a topic in a printed index is similar to keyword searching in an electronic database. The entries in most indexes are arranged alphabetically by author and subject. There may also be subheadings that further break down the subject entries. The first few pages of an index contain notes on how information is arranged within the index and provide a sample citation. In the body of the index, citations are listed under author and subject heading entries. You interpret these citations just as you would ones listed in a database.

Periodical titles are usually abbreviated within a printed index citation. To find the full magazine or journal title, look in the front of the index for a periodical title abbreviations list. If an article looks like it may suit your purposes, use TALON to determine whether or not the Library has the volume and year of the journal title you need. If the article is available at Reed Library, write down the citation to take with you so you can locate the article in the Periodicals section of the library.

Some printed indexes supply abstracts (summaries) of articles cited. These are known as "Abstracts." Examples include Biological Abstracts and Chemical Abstracts.

Using abstracting services is a two-step process. There are two parts to an abstract set such as Chemical Abstracts or Biological Abstracts. For a given year, there are author/subject index volumes. Use these as you would a printed index, and you'll see that, instead of a listing of citations under a keyword, these volumes give you a listing of index phrases describing the contents of each article with each phrase followed by an abstract number. Locate the number in the set of abstract volumes for that year. The number corresponds to the full citation plus an abstract entry. If the abstract for a given article sounds like it suits your needs, use TALON to determine whether or not the library has the volume and year of the journal title you need.

Newspaper articles on a topic can provide current information or show how events in the past were reported at the time they occurred. The Library has printed indexes for New York Times, Denver Post and Wall Street Journal. The library also has indexes for some past years of Christian Science Monitor.

Newspaper indexes are used like other print indexes. Look up a subject or a person's name. Listed under the subject or name are titles of relevant articles with one to three line summaries of the contents of each article. Also given is the length of the article, the month and day of publication, the section number or letter, the page number and the column into which the article falls on the page. See the example citation below.

Pay attention to the explanation of the date and page information for locating the article in the correct issue of the newspaper.

Printed indexes and abstracts do take more time to use as compared to electronic databases. Don't ignore them, though, because these indexes may have coverage that suits your topic better than any available database does, and they may allow you to find article citations that aren't included in an online database. The subject specific printed indexes are especially useful when there's no corresponding subject database.