Introduction to the Collections

The periodical collections of the Humanities and Social Sciences Library are one of its greatest strengths, and attract scholars from a wide range of disciplines from around the world. Periodicals, also referred to as journals, magazines or serials, are found in a variety of locations throughout the Library, depending on the date, subject, and language of the publication. CATNYP, the Library’s online catalog, will tell you where you can find the journal you need.

Alongside mainstream journals, the collection includes many unique and unusual items not found in other Libraries. The range includes ethnic weekly newspapers, zines, publications from the alternative press, American literary magazines ("little magazines"), collectibles, city magazines, learned society and museum publications, illustrated magazines, sports & games, and hobbies.

Some of the interesting and obscure titles you will find in our collections include:

Potato Chipper, published by the National Potato Chip Institute
Skanky Possum, a contemporary poetry journal published in Austin, TX
Nyu Yorker Vokhnblat, a Yiddish literary journal published in New York from 1935-1960.

The collection is both an historical one, as well as an active, contemporary one, with publications ranging from Benjamin Franklin’s General Magazine, the first U.S. magazine, started in 1741, to the latest issue of Cosmopolitan.