Once you have chosen a workable topic, you should then try to find as many primary and secondary sources as possible on that topic. Today’s college libraries make doing research much easier than it was even five years ago—provided, of course, that you understand the various options available to you for locating sources. The growth of electronic databases, in particular, has revolutionized the way students now do research, making it a snap to compile detailed lists of books and articles published in your research area.

 

Beginning Your Search

The first place that you should always start when doing any research is your own college’s library. Most college libraries by now have eliminated the old card catalogue system that has been around since the stone ages and have replaced them with computerized systems.  You can search for books using the on-line catalogue in much the same way you use a card catalogue: you can search under "author," "title," or "subject." At both Molloy and St. John's  helpful library personnel are available to show you how to use the on-line system for locating books if you are unfamiliar with it.

   Access Molloy's On-Line  Catalogue

   Access St. John's On-Line Catalogue

If your topic is a workable one, by now you should have the titles and call numbers of at least a dozen works written down on paper. At this point you may want to make a preliminary investigation of the stacks to locate these sources. By carefully surveying the area where these books are located you will probably find other useful sources, since library books are grouped according to topic.

After you have search the on-line catalogue, your next step should be to consult one of the many computerized data bases that are available in your college library. 

Molloy College:  Molloy’s collection contains such useful data bases as First Search (check under "Arts and Humanities" for philosophical topics and "Social Sciences/Public Affairs and Law" for topics in Applied Ethics") and  Proquest Direct. Unfortunately, the best data base for research in Philosophy—the Philosopher’s Index—is not available at Molloy. To use this data base, you will either have to go to Fordham or to St. John’s Universities.

St. John's University:   St. John's main library has dozens of excellent databases to help you locate sources.   For most topics in Philosophy and Ethics the following will probably be most useful to you:   ATLA:  Religion Data Base, Humanities Index, Philosopher's Index and EBSCOHOST (for periodicals, journals and  magazines).

On-line data bases are fairly easy to use once you get the hang of them, and will typically list all the most recent books and articles published on your topic. Some data bases will even give you full text versions of recent articles--a boon that can save you a great deal of research time.  Once again, however, if you are unfamiliar with this system do not hesitate to ask for the help of a librarian.

   Access Molloy's Databases

[ID information necessary off campus]

After printing out references to books and articles published on your topic, you may find that most of these works are unavailable at your own college's library. Fear not! Most college libraries have some kind of inter-library loan system, which  will enable you to have virtually any book and most articles sent to you from the  libraries connected to the system. All you have to do is to go to the main desk of the library, ask for the inter-library loan form, and fill out the form as indicated. Within three weeks, you should have the sources that you requested.

If you need to begin doing research immediately and can’t wait for books to be sent though ILL, you can also make use of neighboring public and college libraries to gather sources. To find out which libraries have the books you need, check the link listed below.  With the proper authorization (available from a librarian at your own institution), you can check books out of Adelphi’s and St. John’s collections. Although you can use Fordham’s Library for research, you will not be able to check books out.

   Catalogues of Local Libraries

Once you have a handful of sources on your topic that you have gotten from own college library, other libraries or though inter-library loan, you then have an easy way to find even more sources to use. In the back of each of these books will usually be a fairly substantial bibliography of sources. Skim through these bibliographies to see if any books or articles are available on your topic. After checking to see first whether these sources are available at your own library, you can then order them as well through the ILL system.

One final place that you can look for information on your topic is on the Internet. Although this is certainly a legitimate source to use for research, it should be used cautiously. Articles published on the Internet, unlike regular books and articles, do not have to go through an editorial process, and therefore can be of dubious quality. Remember that any half-wit or lunatic can get an article published on the Internet, and that therefore much of what you are going to find will be rubbish. This having been said, it should also be pointed out that more and more respected academics and legitimate researchers are beginning to use the Internet to disseminate their ideas. Your task, when using the Internet for research, will ultimately be to sift through the chaff as quickly as possible in order to locate truly useful information.

   Using the Internet for Research

 

EXERCISE 1:   EVALUATING WEB SITES

  

A Note on Sources