Preserving the Value of Tables of Contents Online

Abstract

This article outlines research investigating the coverage of women's studies periodical titles on three table of contents (TOC) databases: UnCover, Faxon Finder, and ContentsFirst. The author looked at how many women's studies periodicals appeared on each system; what types of women's studies periodicals were excluded; and most importantly, whether the online TOC databases provided the same information as printed tables of contents pages. The printed tables of contents for three years' worth of twenty-four women's studies periodical titles were checked against each database. Certain “article types” such as book reviews and poetry were found to be mislabeled or did not appear at all on the online versions. Thus, the value of these databases as accurate table of contents sources should be questioned.

Key Words:

• Women's studies
• tables of contents
• periodicals
• online systems
• online databases