Library Research Guide for Philosophy 100.5: Puzzles of Identity
http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/phil100_5.html

 

Library Gateway Overview
Finding Background Material
Finding Books
Finding Periodical Articles
Finding Internet Resources
Evaluating Sources
Citing Sources
 Reference Help

Question? Ask a Librarian

Cornell University Library Gateway

The Cornell University Library Gateway is the Cornell University Library's homepage on the World Wide Web. The Gateway lists information about the CU Library and provides access to library resources and services.

Research Strategy and Process - An online tutorial offering instructions and suggestions on how to make your research skills and use of the Library more efficient and effective.

Return to Table of Contents

Finding Background Resources
Selected Subject Encyclopedias and Dictionaries

Philosophy

Dictionary of Philosophy, Angeles, Peter A . New York: Barnes and Noble, 1981
(Uris Ref BJ 63 E56: also Olin stacks +BJ 63 E56)

"This dictionary presents informal and understandable definitions for important philosophical terms. Emphasis is on terms most commonly covered in beginning philosophy courses: epistemology, metaphysics, ethics, aesthetics, logic and the philosophies of religion and politics." (Preface) Includes and index of philosophers.

The Oxford Companion to Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1995.
(online through Find Databases or Library Catalog; also Olin Ref B51 .O94 2005 (2nd ed))

An assembly of 249 distinguished philosophers have contributed to The Oxford Companion to Philosophy to create the most authoritative and engaging philosophical reference work in English. It gives clear and reliable guidance to all areas of philosophy and to the ideas of all notable philosophers from antiquity to the present day. The scope of the volume is not limited to English-language philosophy: it surveys the foremost philosophy from all parts of the world. The book covers philosophical topics from animal souls, arthritis in the thigh, and brain in a vat to Zoroastrianism and vague objects. There are more than fifty extended entries of 3,000 words on the main areas of philosophy and the great philosophers. (Publisher's description)

The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy. Blackburn, Simon. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1994.
(online through Find Databases or Library Catalog; also Olin Ref B41 B62)

This dictionary is meant to be a "resource for anyone interested in general intellectual movements". (Preface) It contains definitions to over 3000 philosophical terms and those from related disciplines (theology, physics, psychology, sociology) "where such terminology is heavily embedded in philosophical discussion". (Preface) It also includes historical philosophers and scientists whose work brought about major changes in philosophical thought. The definitions contain extensive cross-references.

Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy . Craig, Edward, ed. London; New York: Routledge, 1998.
(online through the Find Databases or Library Catalog; Olin Ref B 51 R68 1998 and the Electronic Text Center in Olin Library)

The Routledge Encyclopedia provides an excellent update to the older Encyclopedia of Philosophy. It covers a wide range of philosophical topics in 9 vols., (the tenth volume is the index) containing just over 2,000 signed entries. There are many more entries than in the older encyclopedia, with much better coverage of non-Western philosophy and more biographical entries. Survey articles are not as comprehensive, however. The Routledge Encyclopedia's coverage of ethics is noticeably better, making this a first choice for ethicists. Articles are followed by brief bibliographies. An excellent resource.

The Online version of the 10-volume Routledge encyclopedia of philosophy can be browsed by philosophical themes, philosophies, historical periods, and religions. Full text entries can be searched by keyword, title, contributor, or bibliography.

The Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Edwards, Paul, ed. . 8 vols. New York: MacMillan, l967; Suppl. 1996.
(Uris Ref +B 51 E56; also Olin Ref and Mann Ref)

The most comprehensive source of philosophical information. The Encyclopedia discusses Eastern and Western philosophy and deals with ancient, medieval, and modern philosophy. The work contains nearly 1,500 lengthy articles of value for the specialist as well as for the beginner.

Return to Table of Contents

FINDING BOOKS

Connect to the Cornell University Library Catalog

The Cornell University Library Catalog includes the holdings of all of the libraries on the Ithaca campus, in addition to those of the Geneva Experiment Station. (The Medical College Library, located in New York City, has a separate catalog.) The catalog contains records for books, computer files, government documents, manuscripts and archives, maps, musical scores, periodicals, serials, sound recordings, and visual materials received and cataloged since 1973. There are also records for most pre-1973 items, and for items that are on order or in process.
Understanding Library of Congress Call Numbers

Library of Congress Classification

The Cornell University Library uses Library of Congress subject headings as the standard for subject searching. Unlike searching by keyword, where any term or wording of a topic can be entered into the computer, subject searching requires you to use the exact wording of an official Library of Congress subject heading in order to retrieve search results.

Return to Table of Contents

FINDING PERIODICAL ARTICLES

Periodical indexes identify and locate articles in magazines, journals and newspapers. Periodical indexes provide the authors, titles, and sometimes abstracts, of relevant articles, along with the name of the periodical, volume, pages and date. Some online periodical indexes also provide the full-text of the article. When full-text articles are not provided, use the Cornell Library Catalog to determine which library owns the periodicals you need. For the complete list of indexes see Find Databases
A selected list of indexes are below:

Multidisciplinary:

LEXIS-NEXIS Academic Universe.
Find Databases or Library Catalog

An online database created for lawyers, businesses, and broadcast and print news organizations. It contains the full text of a number of large- and medium-size newspapers; transcripts of broadcast news shows, interviews, and press conferences; local and state business publications; wire services; some popular magazines; and legal materials. Since it is updated daily, it is an excellent index to current topics and events, as well as to reviews of plays, books, and films.

PCI: Periodicals Contents Index
Find Databases or Library Catalog

Electronic index to thousands of periodicals in the humanities and social sciences, covering each periodical from its first issue. Every article is indexed. The scope is international, including journals in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and other languages.

Periodical Abstracts. Ann Arbor: UMI, 1986- .
Find Databases or Library Catalog

Indexes and abstracts over 1600 general interest magazines and scholarly journals including all the magazines in Reader's Guide and most of the scholarly journals from Social Sciences Index, Humanities Index, General Science Index. It also includes citations and abstracts to selected television and radio programs. The Library subscribes to most of the periodicals indexed. Holdings can be found easily since the titles are linked to the online catalog. The full text of some transcripts from the television and radio programs can be found by searching the Transcript Files on LEXIS/NEXIS Academic Universe.

Subject Specific:

Philosopher's index
Find Databases or Library Catalog

Provides indexing and abstracts from books and many journals on philosophy and related interdisciplinary fields published in the U.S. and the Western World. Coverage is from 1940 to the present for U.S. materials, and 1967 to the present for non-U.S. references.

PsychINFO
Find Databases or Library Catalog

Contains summaries and citations of the international literature in psychology and related behavioral and social sciences, including psychiatry, sociology, anthropology, education, pharmacology, and linguistics. Includes applied psychology, communication systems, developmental psychology, educational psychology, experimental human and animal psychology, personality, physical and psychological disorders, physiological psychology and intervention, professional personnel and issues, psychometrics, social processes and issues, sports psychology and leisure, and treatment and prevention.

Sociological Abstracts
Find Databases or Library Catalog

Indexes approximately 200 periodicals in English and some foreign languages. Covers most areas of sociology and anthropology. Citations are arranged by subject areas, such as "divorce", "family", "women". Each issue includes subject and author indexes, which are cumulated annually. Supplements to Sociological Abstracts contain abstracts of papers presented at conferences. Currently issued five times per year.


Electronic Journal Collection:

JSTOR : the scholarly journal archive
Find Databases or Library Catalog

JSTOR is a fully-searchable database containing the back issues of several hundred scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences, mathematics, music, ecology and botany, business and other fields. It includes the following collections: Arts & sciences I, II and III, General science, Ecology and botany, Business, Language and literature.

For more databases see Find Databases.

Return to Table of Contents

FINDING INTERNET RESOURCES
Search Engines and Subject Guides

Use search engines or Internet subject guides to find resources or sites on the World Wide Web on your topic. Search Engines are software that allow you to search the contents of web pages and Subject Guides are web pages that use menus and lists to sort and classify web sites.

Question and evaluate the information that you find on web pages. As you would do with books and journal articles, look to see who is responsible for producing the web page or site that you are accessing. How objective is the information? How accurate or truthful? How authoritative? Go to the Evaluating Sources section of this page for more information on how to assess the web sites you have accessed.

Return to Table of Contents

 

EVALUATING SOURCES

Evaluating the sources you find is a crucial step in the process of library research. The questions you ask about books, periodical articles, or multimedia sources are similar whether you're looking at a citation to the item or have the item in hand.

How to write an annotated bibliography lists the steps for creating and give an example of an annotated bibliography.

How to Critically Analyze Information Sources lists some of the critical questions you should ask when you consider the appropriateness of a particular book, article, media resource, or Web site for your research.

Distinguishing Scholarly from Non-Scholarly Periodicals: A Checklist of Criteria shows how to evaluate periodicals by looking at their format, intended audience, and appearance.

Evaluating Web Resources lists ways to analyze the Web sites you find.

Five Criteria for Evaluating Web Sites offers a table of suggestions.

For additional suggestions specific to Web sites, see Evaluating Web Sites: Criteria and Tools.

Return to Table of Contents

CITING SOURCES

APA citation style
(American Pyschological Association)

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (5th ed.)

Africana, Hotel, Management, Olin, and Uris Libraries
BF 76.7 .P83x 2001x
(located at the Reference Desks)

Also in ILR and Mann Reference at BF 76.7 .A51 2001.

APA citation style (CUL Gateway Help pages)

APA Reference Examples for Electronic Source Materials (Excerpted from the 5th edition of the Publication Manual)

APAStyle.org (APA's web site)

MLA citation style
 (Modern Language Association)

MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (6th ed.)

Olin and Uris Libraries Z253 .M68 2003
(located at the Reference Desks)

MLA citation style (CUL Gateway Help pages)

MLA Style (MLA's web site)

 

Cornell University Code of Academic Integrity

Managing Information using Bibliographic/Citation Software

RefWorks is a web-based program that allows you to easily collect, manage, and organize bibliographic references by interfacing with databases. RefWorks also interfaces directly with Word, making it easy to import references and incorporate them into your writing, properly formatted according to the style of your choice. Click here for more information about RefWorks and to sign up for an account. RefWorks workshops are offered at Uris Library, Mann Library and ILR Library (ILR students only).

Return to Table of Contents

Research and Reference Help

 

Return to Table of Contents

September 19, 2005 (rk)

http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/phil100_5.html
Tony Cosgrave -ajc5 at cornell.edu
Reference Librarian
Olin and Uris Libraries, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14853
PSA: Public Services and Assessment
Information and reference: 607-255-4144, okuref@cornell.edu
Circulation: (Olin) 607-255-4245, (Uris) 607-255-3537, olincirc@cornell.edu