Let's look only briefly at step three of the research process, which is searching indexes for periodical articles. But don't skip this step when you write your own research paper! Remember that periodical indexes often produce the most manageable and up-to-date resources, so most instructors are going to be very suspicious of research papers that fail to include the best periodical literature available. (The Newsweek article has already convinced you of the value of such material, I hope.)

The same search principals we used while searching OhioLINK Central Catalog will work when we search periodical indexes.

For example, let's use a leading index to do a word search for "Kennewick" (1983-present): Social Sciences Index. (I cannot provide a link to a free periodical index available to all Web users, because the best indexes are usually licensed to be used only by the patrons of specific libraries, just like Britannica Online. Review "Step Three: Using Indexes" in chapter four of The Research Process to evaluate the indexes available in your library.)

You should find an article on the Kennewick Man in The Economist. Explore the index a bit. Notice that its way of marking and e-mailing catalog entries is similar to that of the OhioLINK Central Catalog. Notice, too, that it uses the term "descriptors" for subject headings, and that these "descriptors" differ from Library of Congress subject headings. (Indexes use their own systems of subject headings, so with each index one must again discover the best headings to use. But it's never a bad idea to start by trying Library of Congress subject headings.)

Instead of talking you through an index search, I'm going to stress the importance of choosing the right index. If you can pass the following quiz, you should be able to choose appropriate indexes in your home library. If you miss three or more, you need to be especially careful about finding the right indexes for your paper. (Review "Step Three: Using Indexes" with special care.)

Before you click "Answer," notice that you can answer every question correctly by consulting my list of indexes in chapter four of The Research Process. (I would expect only a library sciences specialist to be able to answer all of these questions from memory.)

1) Name a periodical index that covers just the field of anthropology. [Answer]

2) Name the most widely used author and subject index to several hundred English-language periodicals that publish articles in the social sciences. [Answer]

3) Name two ethnic studies indexes specifically devoted to articles on Native Americans. [Answer]

4) Name the general-purpose index that provides 25-word summaries of articles in over sixteen hundred periodicals, including scholarly journals. [Answer]

5) Name the general-purpose index that lists nothing but bibliographies on diverse topics. [Answer]

Are all of these indexes useful for the topic we're investigating? You bet! (Several other highly useful indexes come to mind, particularly the Social Sciences Citation Index.)

Perhaps you're feeling hopeless again. Here's a consoling thought: If you use all of these indexes, you will find that many of the citations are duplicates that you will need to record only once. The duplications will make you confident that you have covered the territory thoroughly. Furthermore, in the computerized indexes, you may be able to limit your search to the years after 1990 (when the repatriation legislation took effect), and other ways of limiting the size of your final source list will occur to you as you develop your topic.

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