Book excerpt: Balay's "Early Periodical Indexes" is the most comprehensive guide available to the indexing of periodical literature from the 16th century until the end of the 19th century, limited in scope to European languages. The material itself is widely scattered, difficult to find, and until now without a systematic way to identify it. This extraordinarily useful tool lists and describes titles in a wide range of disciplines, including indexes published prior to 1900 that are restricted to periodicals (such as Poole's), those published later (such as Wellesley), as well as serial and topical bibliographies citing publications in all formats--and Balay explains the relationships among them. Electronic databases, both Web-based and CD-ROMs, are included. Indexes are by author, title, topical subjects, and dates of coverage. This landmark resource should be a familiar sight in every research library.