Library of Congress Classification

Materials in Reference Collection

Indexes and Databases

Locating Periodical Articles

Citing Print and Electronic Sources

Internet Resources

Introduction

Philosophy, as "love of wisdom," explores the most fundamental questions of human experience, questions concerning the nature of the human person, the existence of God, immortality, freedom, the nature of moral and political values, the question of being, appearance and reality, knowledge and truth. A variety of richly developed and intellectually exciting answers to these questions, and many others, are explored in a systematic and rigorous way by means of a study of the work of outstanding classical and contemporary philosophers. (Rockhurst Catalog 1998-2000)

Library Of Congress Classification

Library materials are organized by a system created by the Library of Congress that groups materials based on what they are about. This LC system uses letters and numbers to determine the call number of a book, which serves as that book’s address within the collection. The advantage of this system is that books about the same subject, say the French Revolution, should be in the same area. Find a good book on your subject and you should be able to find others in the same area.

The Library of Congress system places all books on philosophy in class B-BD and BH-BJ. This class is further broken down into subclasses that define more specific subjects. Some important subclasses are listed below. Click here for a more complete look at the Library of Congress Class B.

Specific books and other library materials can be found by searching the Online Catalog. This is a catalog that not only lists the collection of the Rockhurst University Greenlease Library, but can also be used to see the collections of the other MOBIUS libraries. For more information about the MOBIUS consortium, visit their website at http://mco.missouri.mobius.edu. One can search by title, author, subject and keyword to find books owned by the library. A good research strategy is called subject heading tracing. This strategy involves first doing a keyword search to find books relevant to a topic. Once a ‘good’ book is found, look at its subject headings. Then do a subject search and type in that subject heading. You should find other books on your topic this way.

Materials In Reference Collection

The library’s reference collection contains materials that are quite useful to students in philosophy, including dictionaries, encyclopedias and other sources. These reference items include:

Dictionary of modern American philosophers
Ref. B 851 D53 2005
A multi-volume set with contains 1082 entries by over 500 authors.  It provides an account of philosophical thought in the United States and Canada between 1860 and present.

The Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Ref B41 E5

Key Ideas in Human Thought
Ref B41 K48 1993

A Dictionary of Philosophy
Ref B41 M38 1995

The Oxford Companion to Philosophy
Ref B51 O94 1995

Indexes And Databases

Indexes and databases are tools used to find journal articles about a particular topic. Some are used primarily for academic research, while others can be used to find popular articles to practice one’s reading skills. Some are available only in print, while others will be electronic and may even contain the full-text of the article. See our Electronic Resources page for a complete list of electronic indexes and databases.

Philosopher’s Index (INDEX AREA Ref Z7127 P47)
This index is a subject and author index with abstracts. Philosophy books and journals in English, French, German, Spanish, and Italian are indexed, along with selected books and journals in other languages and related interdisciplinary publications. This index is published quarterly and cumulated annually.

Connect to Philosopher's Index.

Humanities Index (INDEX AREA Ref AI3 R492 1974-2004)
This is a cumulative index to humanities periodicals in the English language. Some philosophical periodicals are included.

FirstSearch
FirstSearch is actually a cluster of almost 40 databases and requires a training session to access. But the training session is well worth it! Some of the databases useful to researchers of philosophy include:

Clase and Periodica
Periodical Abstracts
WorldCat

Connect now to FirstSearch (password protected).

JSTOR
This database provides electronic access to back issues of selected journals in the humanities, social sciences and sciences. It is full text and some titles go back to the 19^th century. JSTOR will not include the last 2-5 years of the journal.

Connect to JSTOR

EBSCOhost
This is a compilation of databases that provide full text journal articles, encyclopedia entries and other information in a variety of subject areas.

For descriptions of individual databases within EBSCOhost, go to the Alphabetic List of Databases.

Connect now to EBSCOhost

Locating Periodical Articles

After identifying specific periodical articles on a topic, consult the Periodical Holdings List to determine if the periodical title you need is located in the Greenlease Library collection.

Citing Print and Electronic Sources

Consult citation style manuals to format your research paper. See our guide to Citing Print and Electronic Sources in Research Papers.

Internet Resources

For those with internet access, the web is a great way to find resources. From online dictionaries and magazines to recipes and music, the web has it.

American Philosophical Association’s Home Page
http://www.apa.udel.edu/apa/index.html
This web site includes information on membership, jobs, fellowships and web resources. Use it to lead you to additional philosophy web sites.

Philosophy Research Base
http://erraticimpact.com/welcome.htm
This meta-index integrates text resources with the best online resources. It serves as a study guide for students and teachers.

A Dictionary of Philosophical Terms and Names
http://www.philosophypages.com/dy/
This site provides a concise guide to technical terms and personal names often encountered in the study of philosophy. Click on "Philosophy Pages" for additional sites of interest.