Indices vs. Abstracts

Indices and abstracts are vital for any up-to-date reporting of material or search for information. First a word about the differences between an index and an abstract. Both are periodical accumulations of articles and works that are listed usually by author, title, and most importantly, subject. An index will follow the author and name of a particular writing by where that writing can be found, i.e. in what journal or annual it was published. An abstract will also give this information but then follows it with a synopsis of what the writing is about. This is most helpful when doing an intensive literature search in which one does not want to be forced to look up every article listed on the subject. The abstract is thorough enough to present the major findings or importance of the article and the researcher can decide from there if he or she feels it is important enough to read the entire article.

Each library will have similar indices and abstract services and some will have more than others. Here are a few examples:

BIOLOGICAL ABSTRACTS is a comprehensive publication of the world's literature in most phases of biology, exclusive of clinical medicine. It comes out twice a month, is cumulated annually and can be found in most college libraries. It contains four indices: the Author Index listing authors alphabetically, followed by the abstract number of all articles written by that author during the cumulation period; the Basic Subject Index which lists articles under important words appearing in their titles; then for a more exhaustive search there is a Cross Index in which the abstract number of an article is listed under every relevant heading, and finally a Biosystematic Index arranged by the major taxonomic groups. When using the Subject Index in any reference aid of this kind, it is important to get as specific as possible in the heading.

For any subject dealing with medicine or medical research, INDEX MEDICUS provides a useful key to literature available. It has an author and subject index. This reference does not give abstracts but is only an index, that is, it does not state what the work is about, only where it is found.

ZOOLOGICAL RECORD is a comprehensive bibliography of the world's literature in biology and the world's authority on taxonomic reference. This is most helpful if one is trying to find out information on a specific animal.

Another useful index is the SCIENCE CITATIONS INDEX. If one has found an article that is particularly applicable to the subject being sought, one can look it up by the author's name in this index under the year of its publication and find any other articles that use that article as a reference. These other articles would most likely deal with the same subject.

CHEMICAL ABSTRACTS are put out semi-monthly and indexed semi-annually. Any topic dealing with chemistry or chemical substances is abstracted in this resource. It contains author, keyword, formula, and patient indices.

PHYSIOLGOICAL ABSTRACTS is another good source of information. This contains simply an author and subject index.

There is another reference aid that is especially important if one is trying to find information on ecology, pollution or any related fields. It is the MONTHLY CATALOG of U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS, which lists all works put out by the governmental agencies, arranged under the agency that publishes the work.