Senior Thesis Information

SENIOR THESIS INFORMATION

Department of Philosophy Guidelines for the Senior Thesis

The senior thesis is a written work of thirty or more typed pages, which represents the result of a major research effort. Students receive one course credit upon the successful completion of the thesis and its presentation before the department. The senior thesis and presentation will be evaluated by at least two members of the department who will consult in determining the final grade. Senior theses may be approached in different ways. Senior theses may examine closely a single work or works of a single author, a philosophical question which examines the work of several authors, an interdisciplinary problem or question which examines work of authors in different disciplines, or the focused refutation of position, or development of a position. Theses should reflect careful examination of texts, a considered argument developed over the course of the thesis and awareness of significant counterarguments. Theses should take into account original sources but also important secondary literature. Above all, theses should reflect your own clearly formulated philosophical argument. Attached to these guidelines is An Introduction to Library Research--Philosophy, prepared by Musselman Library to assist you in your preliminary research of books, periodical indexes and electronic resources. Reference librarians are available for research consultations focused on your topic. We urge you to take advantage of this assistance early in the term.

 Introduction to Library Research - Philosophy

The Musselman Library Website http://www.gettysburg.edu/library

The Musselman Library website is the gateway to all library resources and services. Begin your research here.

MUSCAT, the Musselman Library online catalog http://library.gettysburg.edu/

MUSCAT contains records for all materials owned by Musselman Library, including books, reference books, videos, DVDs, audio recordings, and Special Collections materials. You can search by title, author, keyword, subject, and more. Remember that keyword searching is broader than subject searching. Use keyword searching initially, and then focus your search with the appropriate subject search.

Reference Sources

The Library of Congress call number system designates "B" to stand for philosophy. If you go to the beginning of the Bs in the Reference Collection, you are likely to find these titles:

The Encyclopedia of Philosophy is a classic source that contains long articles with references.
Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy is the latest major reference work on philosophy.
World Philosophers and their Works contains articles on philosophers plus summaries of selected works.
Other good one-volume reference books include The Oxford Companion to Philosophy, The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, and The Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy.

Browse the Reference Collection in the "B" call number area to find more philosophy reference books such as the Encyclopedia of Ethics, the Companion Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy, or the Dictionary of Existentialism.

Remember that interdisciplinary topics require you to look beyond Library of Congress call number "B." For example, the Women's Studies Encyclopedia is shelved in the Hs.

Periodical Indexes/Abstracts and Databases

Periodical indexes allow you to search for citations to journal articles (and sometimes books, chapters in books, and other materials) by subject. Most citations will contain an abstract or description of the article.

Databases are a collection (of journal articles, citations, documents, or images) that can be searched. When searched, databases present types of information: citations, abstracts, or full-text of an article or essay, or some combination of the three.

Musselman Library does not create or own subscription databases; we lease access rights for our community of students, staff and faculty. Here are several appropriate databases to research in philosophy.

Humanities Abstracts is a basic index that covers undergraduate journals in the humanities, including philosophy journals. You should use this index because Musselman Library is likely to own the journals that are covered. Access this online index from the Library website.
Philosopher's Index is the advanced, comprehensive periodical index for philosophy. It has international coverage, and many articles are not in English. Access this online index from the Library website.

Each article you find on databases will display its availability. Here's the notations you'll see, and what they mean.

"Linked Full Text" means that you can click it, and the article is available as a webpage.
"PDF Full Text" means that you can click and the article is available as a .pdf file. You cannot cut or paste a .pdf file. To print a .pdf file you must use the printer icon in the display window.
"Search Library's Journal Locator" or "Check Library Catalog" may mean that we own the journal in which the article is published. The link will take you to a MUSCAT record which will tell you how you can retrieve the title from the shelves.
"Interlibrary Loan" means you must request the article from another library. To do this automatically, you must have an account in our Interlibrary Loan software. Go to this URL to register http://illiad.cc.gettysburg.edu/hello.htm

There are other databases that have philosophy sources, though not a focus on philosophy like Humanities Abstracts and Philosopher's Index. Multidisciplinary databases may cover a broad spectrum of disciplines, but still have enough philosophy sources to be of use to you.

Academic Search Premier - provides citations to and some full text articles covering social sciences, humanities, education, arts and literature, and ethnic studies. Citations date from 1971-present.
Wilson Select - provides full text articles covering all subjects. Articles date from 1994-present.
Article First - provides citations to articles on science, technology, medicine, social science, business, the humanities, and popular culture. Citations date from 1990-present.
Readers' Guide Abstracts - provides citations to articles on all subjects in general and popular magazines [no scholarly journals]. Citations date from 1890-present.
WorldCat - WorldCat provides catalog records from libraries around the world for books, dissertations, journal titles, manuscripts, maps, sound recordings, musical scores, films, archives, and computer files. Use WorldCat to locate materials not in Musselman Library, in almost any area of study, or to locate items in specific libraries and research collections.

Philosophy Journals

Musselman Library subscribes to over 100 journals with a subject of religion or philosophy. Find print and online journals by using the Journal Locator from the library homepage. You can search by individual journal title, or browse the list of all Philosophy journals. Remember, the Journal Locator locates journals, not articles. To search for articles on a topic, use a periodical index or database.

Documentation

Gettysburg College now offers RefWorks, a web-based bibliography manager that allows you to create your own personal database of sources by importing references from text files or databases. With RefWorks you can use the citations you've imported in writing your thesis and automatically format the paper and the bibliography in the documentation style of your choice.

Still looking for research materials?

Reference librarians are here to help. When classes are in session, the Reference Desk on the main floor of the Library is open Monday-Friday 9 am - 5 pm, and Sunday-Thursday 6 pm - 10 pm. Individual Research Project Consultations (RPCs) are available as well. A reference librarian will consult with you in a 30-minute appointment focused on your topic. Sign up at the Reference Desk.