Reference sources, including encyclopedias and handbooks, can help expand your understanding of key terms and concepts related to your research topic. Many of these resources also contain recommendations for further reading and more in-depth study. 

Begin your search for books in Library Search.

• If you narrow your search to "Physical Collections," you'll find materials available in the Vassar libraries.
• You can further limit your search (by year, print or electronic format, author, etc.) using the left sidebar on the search results page. 

To find books and other resources not held by Vassar, take your search to WorldCat.

• This resource searches library catalogs across the country and around the world.
• You can request materials we don't have through interlibrary loan.

If you need to find articles and don't know where to start, try a keyword search in Library Search. 

• You have the ability to limit your search results to peer-reviewed articles only, and/or sources available in full text online.
• You can also use the left sidebar on the results page to refine your search by year of publication, journal, language, and more. 

Next, consult databases.

• In addition to resources specific to Philosophy, we have databases that cover scholarship and sources in a multitude of disciplines and interdisciplinary areas. 
• When choosing a database, try to match where you search to what you hope to find. 

If you have a citation to a journal article and want to know how to get access at Vassar, enter the details into our Citation Linker.

• If we don't have it at Vassar, make an interlibrary loan request for the article. 

If you want to search in a specific journal, use Library Search to explore our journals collection.

• This will show you if we have access to the journal at Vassar, and if so, in what format (print or online) and in which database(s).

You've found a great book on your topic, but you're struggling to find other sources. Try bibliographic tracing to identify additional relevant books and articles. This sounds fancy and complicated, but it's as simple as checking out the bibliography and/or notes in a source you've already found, and using these citations to expand your search.

• If we don't have what you need here at Vassar, you can request books, book chapters, and journal articles through Interlibrary Loan (ILL)
• If you're looking at a citation and unsure of how to interpret it, or if you could use some help with locating or requesting sources, just Ask a Librarian!

Citation styles are formats and rules established and modified by institutions and associations of scholars in various academic disciplines. Style guides contain comprehensive guidelines that cover most citation situations. Preferred citation styles vary across fields and disciplines. 

• Chicago Manual of Style - use the Quick Guide for basic examples or see chapter 14 for examples of citations for a variety of sources

• Zotero - recommended citation management tool that can help you stay organized while you research and write