Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method

Page contents > Introduction | Locating Books | Locating journals | Locating journal articles | Locating quick reference works | Locating LSE theses | Using Electronic Resources | Special Collections | Archives | Citing and referencing | Accessing other libraries | Theses | Working Papers | Institutional Repositories | Conference papers | Collection policy | Obtaining Further Help | Contact Details

Introduction

• This page will help you to get started in looking for information on your topic. It covers the basics systematically:  locating books, locating journals, locating journal articles, locating theses, research being done, electronic resources including websites and working papers, conference papers, archives, newspapers and government publications 
• There is a selection of useful student resources for Philosophy including some basic information skills online tutorials.  Further information on information skills training is available here. 

Locating Books

• The place to start is the Library Catalogue 
• The Catalogue includes printed and electronic books held by the Library
• Searches can be done by searching everything, author, title, journal title, subject, classmark, series and Boolean. 
• The default search is "Quick search" which ranks according to relevance in favour of author and title
• If you are searching via keywords it is better to use the "Advanced search" option
• You can also limit by material type
• Each item has a map available showing the location of the material

Why not try the online Library Catalogue tutorial|  

• All books have a classmark, made up of letters, then numbers and finally a filing suffix
• The main subjects for Philosophy and their classmark are:

• Main Collection B-BJ material is located on the 3rd floor, Q on the 1st floor.  For locations of other classmarks use the guide Floor plans and location guide

Reading lists:

• There is a separate Course Collection for essential and background readings on reading lists that is only accessible by LSE staff and students in term time.  Some background readings may be located as Recommended Texts in the Main Collection. 
• You can short-cut the searching for reading list books by clicking on the 'Reading lists'  link on the  Library Catalogue

Books not held at LSE:

• You can look for books in other libraries using a number of the different catalogues listed here
  
• Use the Inter-Library Lending system for books that you cannot easily get to yourself by clicking on the "Requests and inter-lending" button on the Library Catalogue and select the "Request a book from another library" option.

Finding books no-matter where they are located:

• Use WorldCat to find virtually all the books published on your topic. (But note that the location information is limited to USA libraries' holdings).

Locating journals

• To find printed and electronic versions of a particular journal title, choose "Find Results In: Journal Title Browse" on the Library Catalogue "Quick Search" screen. If the Library subscribes to both formats, there will be one entry for the printed version and one for the e-version
• The printed version will have a classmark on the catalogue record.  Click on the floor symbol where it says "Map" to view its location in the Main Collection
• To access the e-version, click on the "Click here for full text" link in the catalogue record for the title that has "Electronic resource" as its sub-title. Alternatively, go to the Journals page via the Electronic Resources link on the Library home page for full-text electronic journals. You can search alphabetically, by title, by subject or by ISSN.  These can be accessed via your LSE username and password
• Key titles in printed or electronic format include:

Journals not held at LSE:

• If the LSE does not have the printed or electronic version of a journal then you can check to see if other libraries have it using a number of different catalogues as listed here
• Use the Inter-Library Lending system for journal articles that you cannot easily get to yourself by clicking on the "Requests and inter-lending" button on the Library Catalogue and select the "Request a journal from another library" option

Locating journal articles

Locating journal articles can be done either through the website of a resource or by using a search across multiple resources. Do not assume a simple Google will find articles - the library provides much more powerful searches. Google Scholar|  is worth looking at and links through to the Library's e-journals| holdings; however, it is not as comprehensive as the services listed below.

• The Library provides a searching service for LSE staff and students called Cross Searcher that searches the content of a number of selected databases and resources. This can be used to find journal articles, and where available, links through to the full text, using the LSE article finder orange button:
• The International Bibliography of the Social Sciences is a good general starting point for finding articles.
• All databases, including those in Cross Searcher and many more, are listed on the Library Catalogue.
• Click here to see databases relevant to Philosophy
• On the Ejournals page you can search for individual ejournals by title or ISSN. You can also browse ejournal titles by subject or choose from a list of major ejournal databases.
• LSE Staff and students will need to use their LSE username and password to access these.

Locating quick reference works

The Reference Collection| on the First floor contains dictionaries, directories, encyclopaedias etc. For Philosophy, look for classmarks beginning B, and Science beginning Q

Locating LSE theses

The Library only holds LSE PhD and MPhil thesis.  These can be located via the Library Catalogue| using the follow method:

•  Turn the "Quick limit" box to read "Theses"
• Enter either the title in "Title browse" or the full name of the department in the "Author browse"
• An example of finding by department in the "Author browse" is - London School of Economic and Political Science Department of Government

Using Electronic Resources

The Electronic Resources page contains information on all of the electronic resources the Library has access to. 

The most important databses for Philosophy are listed on the Library Catalogue|,  and some are searchable via Cross Searcher|.

Click here for more relevant web resources|.

Electronic books. A growing number of electronic books are available. See the E-books page for details. Important collections for Philosophy are:

• Oxford Scholarship Online. Including Oxford University Press titles on Philosophy.
• Intelex Past Masters.  Classic texts by Bacon, Descartes, Hegel, Kant and others
• Eighteenth Century Collections Online. Access to full text of over 150,000 books published during the 18th  century. Topics covered include: social, political and economic history, history of medicine and philosophy.

Special Collections

• Lakatos Collection. (3rd Floor) Books from the library of Professor Imre Lakatos on the philosophy of mathematics and science. 

Archives

• Check out the LSE Archives pages to see what is available here and nationally/internationally.
• Lakatos Archive. Papers and notes by Professor Imre Lakatos on the philosophy of mathematics and science. 

Citing and referencing

• Once you have found your references, remember that you must cite them correctly. The Library has a useful collection of online guides on this. They include a podcast. Refer to the Departmental handbook or your tutor for guidance on which style to use.
• Click here for more online guides.
• If you have a large number of references keep track of them using EndNote  bibliographic software. Use EndNote works with word to format your references automatically. You can also export references automatically from many online databases. The library offers regular training courses on this software which you can book.
  

Accessing other libraries

• Information regarding access to LSE staff and students can be found by using the Using other libraries' page.
• You are entitled to borrow from the Senate House Library - take your LSE ID card along with you. This also gives you access to their online databases.
• Borrowing from other libraries is possible for LSE part-time masters students, research students and staff using the SCONUL access card that permits borrowing  from member institutions.  This can be obtained at the Help Desk on the 1st floor. 

Theses

• Index to theses - UK and Irish PhD theses. (Abstracts only)
  
• Dissertations and theses  - USA and Canadian PhD theses. Has abstracts and a 24 - page preview for recent ones.
  
• Library Catalogue - or LSE theses - PhD and MPhil only are held here. Turn "Quick limit" box to read "Theses".
  
• Use the Inter-Library Lending system for theses that are not held at the LSE. (Use the "Requests and inter-lending" button on the Library Catalogue to request items).
  

Working Papers

Theses are one way of accessing research currently being undertaken.  Working papers are another important source.  The list below contains a selection of working paper sites for Philosophy

Institutional Repositories

Institutional repositories are becoming increasingly important as a source of information regarding research being undertaken by academics and students in universities worldwide.  LSE Research Online| is a collection of research produced by LSE staff. It often contains content which is full text and freely available. This is constantly updated and displayed below are examples of some of the most recently added items.

• A full list of Philosophy items is also available.
• If you are interested in including your own research please contact staff at: lseresearchonline@lse.ac.uk.

Conference papers

• ZETOC - Index to conference papers 1992- . No full-text, simply tells you where to find the paper concerned eg: in a book or journal.
  
• ISI Proceedings on Web of Knowledge - science and technology, 1990- .

Collection policy

• The Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method collection policy indicates what Library staff aim to collect in this subject - to what level of comprehensiveness and in what depth .

Obtaining Further Help

Further help can be obtained via a number of different methods:

• Check the Library home page
• See the guides and staff at the Help Desk on the 1st floor for both Library and IT inquiries
• Use the Web enquiry form which we aim to respond to within 2 working days
• Take a Library skills course - see our our Information Skills page to book.
• Use the The Library Companion for Students in Moodle

Contact Details

• The Library contact for the Philosophy department is Graham Camfield.  His contact details are:
• E-Mail: g.camfield@lse.ac.uk
• Phone: 020 7955 7942