Serials

Frequently Asked Questions

So, what does the Periodicals Department do?

The Periodicals Department is responsible for processing,checking-in, and claiming periodical materials and getting them out to the shelf as soon as possible.

How many Periodical titles does the Library have?

Between the St. Paul and Minneapolis campuses, the collection includes over 2000 different periodical titles in paper, microfiche, microfilm and electronic formats.

How do I find out whether or not St. Kates receives a particular title?

• Periodical and Subject Heading List: The department maintains printed lists of the Periodical titles we hold as well as Subject Heading lists.  These lists can be found in the Reference Room, on the Index Stand, at the Reference and Circulation desks and down in the Stacks.
• CLICnet: Patrons can search periodical titles on CLICnet.  Here they can also find the library's holdings for that title and the most recent issue we have received.
• Periodical Cat: A combined list of periodicals which are available in the CSC Libraries in print or microform or to which the Libraries have online, full-text access. Print titles include paper, microfiche, and microfilm formats.  The Periodical Cat is fairly definitive for online, full-text titles because the data comes directly from the database providers.

Can I check-out a magazine to take home?

No.  All of the magazines must remain in the Library.  The Library does have copy machines that patrons can use to copy articles from magazines.  Patrons may also try searching for the article on one of the electronic databases and print articles from there.

How do I search the electronic databases?

You can search the electronic databases to find periodical articles by going to the databases section of the Library's home page.  Please check with a Reference Librarian if you have any questions about searching these databases.

Department Related Links

• EBSCONET

• UMI

• MINITEX

• CLIC

• OCLC

• ALCTS DEU

Library Related Links

• ALA

• Internet Library for Librarians

• AcqWeb--Acquisitions

• Librarian's Index to the Internet

• Innovative Internet Applications in Libraries

• Top 200 Technical Services Benefits of Home Page Development