There are three basic ways to search The Philosopher’s Index online. Please note that the search format for each of the four vendors varies somewhat.

1)     Basic Search:  Use the general search box.  Here you enter any subject or proper name.  You get any occurrence of your entry wherever it occurs in the entire Index database.

2)     Indices Search: You can choose one of the ten indices, as listed below, for online searching. For example, if you choose to search by descriptor/subject heading, you will get all those records indexed under that descriptor/subject heading but not occurrences in abstracts or titles.  If you chose to search by Author Index and enter an author’s name, last name first, you will get all those records authored by the person that you entered.

3)    Advanced search:  If you want to do a more complex Boolean search, you have two choices.  First, you can run several searches of the ten indices, as listed below, and then combine them with “and.”  Secondly, you can use the abbreviations given in the Search Field Code table, provided below.  For example, you could search for “JN=Journal of Philosophy and AU= Rawls, John.”  This search would produce all the documents written by Rawls and published in the Journal of Philosophy.

This information is intended to be an introduction.  Please check with your librarian or see Vendor Online Help for more information about online searches.

Search Indices & Field Codes

The Philosopher’s Index is searchable by ten different indices which can be used both to begin and refine your search.

Search Indices:

Author Index
Descriptors/Subject Headings
ISBN Index
ISSN Index    
Journal Name Index
Language Index
Name Index
Publication Type Index
Publication Year Index
Reviewer Index    
Search Field Codes

The following field codes are used in The Philosopher’s Index.  Here they are listed in alphabetical order by two-letter code.