Encyclopedias and other reference resources are excellent places to start your research! The articles are typically longer and more detailed than those found in general encyclopedias. 

The resources listed on this page are of particular value to Philosophy students, as definitions and overviews found in general works may not always fit the philosophical meaning or lens.

You'll find it helpful to consult these reference materials as you work through the course readings and work on your research projects. Look for the bibliographies at the end of entries to identify more scholarly sources.

Use Primo to find resources on your topic at Collins Library and beyond. You will have plenty of time to request materials via Summit or ILL for your project, so start early!

• When you find an item that seems relevant, look at its subject terms to find similar items. To do this, check the "Item Details" and simply click on one of the subject headings listed in the record for the book; the next screen will list all the books that share this subject term.
• To find the library location of a book's call number, check the library map.

Collins Library uses the Library of Congress classification scheme to organize books on the shelves. Follow these tips to find the book you need.

Example:

• Start with the top line. It is in alphabetical order. Ex. P
• The second line is a whole number.  Ex. 107
• The third line is  a combination of a letter and numbers. Read the letter alphabetically. Read the number as a decimal, eg. Y.23, Y.34, Y.344, Y.4, etc. Ex. .P5474 (*Some call numbers have more than one combination letter-number line.)
• The last line is the year the book was published. Read in chronological order. Ex. 2001, 2005, 2010, 2015, etc. Ex. 2011

Use the library map to find where the book is located.

Selected articles subscribed to by Collins Library are available in Primo, but you'll want to search individual databases for more comprehensive results. These subject databases are especially useful for philosophical topics.