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Philosophy: Databases and Repositories

This guide provides useful information in an array of areas in the field of philosophy.

Philosophy Databases and Repositories

Boolean Search Techniques

Database Search Tips

Spell words correctly

 Use keywords to search-These are the nouns or significant words in your research questions.

Use Boolean operators-These are words (connectors) placed between search terms to narrow or expand a search. They are: AND, OR and NOT.

  • AND-helps to narrow your search
  • OR-helps to broaden your search
  • NOT-helps to narrow your search


Truncation-This allows you to search the "root" form of a word with all its different endings by adding a symbol to the end of the word. e.g. bank* will yield results with words such as bank, banking, bankers and bankruptcy

Note. The asterisk * is the most common truncation symbol but there are others but databases vary. e.g. bank!  bank?  bank+

Check the help feature to ascertain the truncation symbol used.

Utilize phrase searching-It allows you to retrieve specific information from commonly used phrases. e.g. "social networking"