Philosophy Research

Finding Articles

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Academic Search Premier via EBSCOhost
This database covers many different subjects and provides you with current access to the leading philosophy journals as well as magazines covering current ethical and philosophical issues.

Then, if you need to do more in-depth research, go to the following:

Philosopher's Index via EBSCOhost
This is the premier resource in philosophy. It contains more than 210,000 citations covering scholarly research in the fifteen fields of philosophy. It covers more than 480 journals as well as books and book chapters. Philosopher's Index is not full text. It primarily provides citations to articles in journals, many of which the Library owns.

Tip: It's often a good idea to search a general database like Academic Search Complete before you search a specialized database like Philosopher's Index. Why? Because Academic Search Complete is more up to date and provides access to the most recent issues of many of the leading journals. Philosopher's Index will help you do more comprehensive research.

The databases listed above cover philosophy quite well. However, there are some other useful databases:

Business Source Complete via EBSCOhost
If your topic relates to business ethics, then try searching this database. It covers business and management journals and provides a lot of full text.

Lexis/Nexis
This datababase has many full-text newspaper articles and transcripts of television news programs. It can be a useful source if you are researching a contemporary ethical issue such as stem cell research.

MEDLINE via Pubmed
If your topic relates to medical ethics, then try searching this database. It provides citations and abstracts, but not full text.

Finding Books

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To locate books owned by Niagara University Library, use the Library Catalog.

The ebrary electronic book collection offers full-text access to many titles.

If you want to search for books owned by other libraries, too, then try searching WorldCat, a catalog that contains references to more than 57 million items owned by 9,000 libraries worldwide. Don't worry - if you need a book owned by another library, you can request it. To learn how, jump to the section called Obtaining Materials NU Library Does Not Own.

Tip: One thing to note when searching for books is that they are often not as specific as articles, so construct your search in a more general way than you would for an article search. For example, if you were searching Philosopher's Index, you might type Descartes and free will. You could try the same search in the Library Catalog, but then you would also probably want to find books by or about Descartes and then look in the indexes for references to his concept of free will.

Finding Films

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There are three places to look for educational video and documentaries owned by Niagara University Library.

  1. The Educational DVD Collection is located on the first floor of the Library.
    This collection exceeds 1,500 titles and can be viewed and searched via the NU Library Catalog.
  2. Films on Demand. More than 6,000 video titles are available for streaming anywhere on campus.
  3. The web is a good source of video as well. Refseek links to some of the best sites: http://www.refseek.com/directory/educational_videos.html

Finding Reference Books and Web Sites

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Reference books can be a good place to start your research if you don't yet have a firm grasp of your topic. They will explain concepts and key terms, provide historical background and identify the names of key philosophers.

The Library has a strong collection of online and print reference works. You will find this online title useful:

This title, along with other philosophy dictionaries and encyclopedias, can be found in the Library's Reference Collection at Ref B 51. The Reference Collection is located on the first floor.

Two other reputable online philosophy encyclopedias are:

For a list of some of the best philosophy web sites, visit the Internet Public Library.

Obtaining Materials NU Library Does Not Own

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If you need an article or a book that NU Library does not own, you can make use of Interlibrary Loan to obtain it.

Tip: In a hurry? If the article or book you need is owned by another library in Western New York, you can visit that library and use their resources on site (view a list of Western New York library web sites).

Please note: If you wish to borrow a book from another Western New York library, you can get an InfoPass card at the Reference Desk.

Citing Your Sources

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The Philosophy Department does not require the use of a particular style manual, so check with your professor.