1. Where is the Current Periodicals Collection?
2. Are all the unbound periodicals included in this collection?
3. What are current periodicals?
4. How far back do you hold periodicals?
5. What if I am looking for a volume of a journal that is not recent?
6. What if I want something that is currently being bound?
7. How can I determine if a periodical is received electronically?
8. How is the Wells Library Current Periodicals Collection organized?
9. What do we have in the way of newspapers?
10. Do the Libraries provide access to electronic versions of newspapers? How do I locate these?
11. How do I access historical runs of old newspapers?
1. Where is the Current Periodicals Collection?
The collection is located in the Herman B Wells Library Reference Reading Room, located on the first floor of the east tower.
2. Are all the unbound periodicals included in this collection?
We receive only about one-half of the current journals subscribed to by the IU Bloomington Libraries. The rest are spread among the other campus libraries. Always check IUCAT to see where the journal is shelved or ask us for help.
3. What are current periodicals?
Current periodicals are the issues received and held until they are prepared for binding, or until we receive a copy of the title in a more permanent form such as microfilm.
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4. How far back do you hold periodicals?
Periodicals are sent to Heckman Inc. for binding. Most periodicals are bound into volumes that are two inches or less in thickness. Therefore if a title is a quarterly journal it may only be bound once a year, where weekly or monthly titles may be bound much more often. IUCAT indicates when issues are sent to the bindery, which usually takes 3 to 4 weeks.
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5. What if I am looking for a volume of a journal that is not recent?
IUCAT will state what volumes are bound and give the call number for those volumes. A bound journal has its own call number and is shelved in the stacks. IUCAT will also indicate if a periodical is available on microfilm.
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6. What if I want something that is currently being bound?
IUCAT indicates if an item is at the bindery and will display the estimated date of its return. If the issue in question is the only copy on campus, you may place a document delivery request for the article.
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7. How can I determine if a periodical is received electronically?
Search titles on the E-Journals page. It will indicate if there is an electronic subscription for the periodical title. Feel free to ask us for help when you have any questions about the Wells Library Current Periodicals Collection or our electronic access to periodicals.
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8. How is the Wells Library Current Periodicals Collection organized?
The journals are arranged alphabetically by title within language groups. There are four main language groups. The largest group, comprising over 80% of the collection, contains periodicals published in the Roman alphabet including English, French, Spanish, German, and Italian. The Asian language group houses periodicals published in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean. The Arabic/Mid-east language group is comprised of periodicals in Arabic, Farsi (Persian), and Hebrew. The final language group includes periodicals published in the cyrillic alphabet including those written in Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, and other Slavic languages. Titles published in a non-roman alphabet are transliterated in accordance with Library of Congress rules.
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9.What do we have in the way of newspapers?
We currently subscribe to a number of national and international newspapers. Consult IUCAT
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10. Do the Libraries provide access to electronic versions of newspapers? How do I locate these?
Many newspapers are available online through our subscription services with:
Nexis Uni, Factiva (Dow Jones), and Access World News, among others. Search titles on the E-Journals page. It will indicate if there is an electronic subscription for the newspaper title, or search the title in IUCAT
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11. How do I access historical runs of old newspapers?
We have numerous subscriptions for historical runs of newspapers both in microfilm format or digital format. Many of the digital products provide images as well as text versions, making the papers easy to search and reading appears as an exact replicate of the paper. See our guide to Old News.
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