Philosophy Research Guide

Step One: Use the bibliography entitled Philosophy Sources in Owens Library to locate philosophy reference sources available at Owens Library.

Step Two: Search the Library Catalog using the following search tips:

Subject Searching:
Major subject headings listed in the Library Catalog that relate to philosophy are:

Sources about philosophy in specific regions or countries are available in the Library Catalog under the subjects like those shown below:

Philosophical subjects may also include the terms used to refer to followers of a particular philosophy like those shown below:

Subjects about philosophy sometimes begin with the name of the philosophy, followed by another subject or phrase like the examples shown below:

Keyword Searching:

Sources about philosophy may also be retrieved by words (called keywords) with the operators and, or, not. A sample keyword search is shown below:

Truncation allows users to stem words or retrieve words with several endings. The truncation symbol in the Library Catalog is an asterisk (*). The search shown below will locate records in the Library Catalog that include the words Pythagoras or Pythagorean:

Searches may include nesting. Nested terms are enclosed in parentheses. The search shown includes nesting:

Qualifying a search allows users to look for information in a specific field of a record. The search shown below locates the form of the word philosophy in the su (subject) field of records:

Read tips about searching in the Frequently Asked Questions section of the Library Catalog.

Step Three: Use the bibliographies in sources you read to identify information about your topic. Sources not available in Owens Library may be ordered through Interlibrary Loan.

If a book or periodical article you need is not owned by Owens Library, click here to complete an online Interlibrary Loan form.