Now that you have learned about finding information on your philosophy topic in reference books and journals, your next step is to deepen your understanding of your topic by locating and using books. We have talked about reference books that serve as a good introduction to your subject. We have also explored journal articles that offer very specific, focused information. In addition to these two sources of information, you need to locate books on your topic.
Why bother with books when you have all this other great information already? Well, books offer more breadth and depth than most articles in a reference book or journal. Books can give you a thorough introduction to a general subject. They can also provide a very detailed look at a narrow section of a subject or discipline. And you don't need to read the whole book! Look at the table of contents or the index and select only those sections that are helpful to you.
Don't assume that if the library doesn't have a book on your specific subject that there is no information in the library at all. Often a useful chapter on your topic can be found in a more general book on a related subject. Say you are doing a paper on Plato's theory of education. A book on the broader topic of Plato's philosophy will often have a chapter about his ideas on education.
Make sure, also, that you notice the date of the book you are using. If you are doing a very current topic a book published in 1958 will probably not help. However, if you are interested in some historical background or want a classic work by a well known author an older book would be appropriate. Your teacher also may specify how old your research materials can be; some instructors limit students to materials no more than 5 years old.
To find books in the AVC library you will need to use our online catalog.. The Library Book Catalog is an electronic catalog that provides access to books and other materials held in the library. The catalog is composed of thousands of electronic records, each representing a book owned by the AVC library. Each record is divided into a number of fields including: title, author, call number, imprint, description and subjects.
To find a book or other library holding, you may search the catalog by keyword, author, title, subject, ISBN/ISSN, and series. This catalog uses a Boolean search program, which requires the use of certain Boolean operators (and, or, not). (If you have not completed the Catalog Tutorial, you might wish to do so at this time.)
For your philosophy paper you will probably find the General Keyword, Subject Keyword or Subject Alphabetical index most useful. Remember, when you are searching either of the subject indexes, you are actually searching through a list of the Library of Congress Subject Headings. If you do not know the correct subject heading for your topic, you could get a message that states that there is nothing in the catalog for that topic. Do not assume that there is nothing on your subject in the library! You may have been using words that the catalog does not recognize. If this happens to you, please see the librarian for help. Sometimes the difference between getting a lot of information and getting nothing is just knowing the right words!
For a handout listing some useful philosophy subject headings, click on the link below:
Philosophy Research Guide (PDF format)