This research guide is designed to help you get started on the research process by pointing out the Grace Library reference tools that will be most useful for the study of Philosophy.

Finding Books

Searching the Catalog
The Library Online Catalog can be searched from the terminals located on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th levels of Grace Library and from the Library’s web page.

Subject Search – use this to find books on a particular subject in philosophy. Subject headings for topics in philosophy are constructed in many different ways.

Examples:

s = Philosophy, American
s = Philosophy and religion
s = Utilitarianism
s = Self (Philosophy)
s = Knowledge, Theory of
s = Locke, John (finds books written about Locke)

Consult the Library of Congress Subject Headings (PDF) for a complete list of headings.

Author Search – use this to find books written by a particular philosopher.

Example:
a = Locke, John (finds books written by Locke)

Title Search – use this to find a book for which you know the title. Remember to omit articles (such as A, An, and The) at the beginning of titles.

Example:
t = Inquiry Into Meaning and Truth (finds Bertrand Russell’s An Inquiry
Into Meaning and Truth)

In general, books on philosophy are found in the B-BD and BH-BK call number sections in Reference (2nd level) and in the Stacks (3rd level).

Selected Reference Books
A few of the most helpful reference books for philosophy (all located in Reference on the 2nd level):

• A Companion to World Philosophers. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 1997.
  CALL NUMBER: Ref. B121 C664 1997
• Encyclopedia of Aesthetics. NY: Oxford University Press, 1998.
  CALL NUMBER: Ref. BH56 E53 1998
• Encyclopedia of Ethics. NY: Garland Publishing, 1992.
  CALL NUMBER: Ref. BJ63 E45 1992
• The Encyclopedia of Philosophy. NY: Macmillan, 1967.
  CALL NUMBER: Ref. B41 E56 1967
• Women Philosophers. NY: Greenwood Press, 1989.
  CALL NUMBER: Ref. B105 W6 K47 1989

The following tools will help you to locate articles relevant to the study of philosophy:

• Philosopher’s Index – Available in print near the reference desk at Grace Library. The primary index for the study of philosophy, this tool indexes journal articles by both subject and author. Many entries have brief annotations.
• Humanities Index – Available in print near the reference desk. This cumulative index to English language periodicals in the humanities includes good coverage of philosophy, religion, theology, folklore, and many other topics.
• Academic Search Elite – Available through the EBSCOhost electronic database. This electronic resource indexes more than 2700 journals in social sciences, humanities, general science, education, and multicultural studies. Many of the articles are available in full-text.
• Wilson Omnifile – Available through the library’s home page. This database offers the full text of articles relevant to the study of art, science, humanities, social science, information science, business, and much more.

Using Internet Resources

In general, the Internet is usually NOT a good place to find scholarly information about philosophy. However, the following sites have been found to be helpful and reliable in the past:

• Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/), James Fieser and Bradley Dowden, eds.
  
  
• Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (http://plato.stanford.edu/), The Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University.
  
  
• Guide to Philosophy on the Internet (http://www.earlham.edu/%7Epeters/philinks.htm), Peter Suber, Earlham College, ed.

Please ask a librarian if you need additional assistance. We are happy to help!

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