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:
Major subject headings listed in the Library Catalog that relate to philosophy are:
Philosophy and Religion
Psychology and Philosophy
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:
Pythagoras and Pythagorean school
Skeptics (Greek philosophy)
Sophists (Greek philosophy)
Subjects about philosophy sometimes begin with the name of the philosophy, followed by another subject or phrase like the examples shown below:
Gnosticism in literature
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.