1. MLA (Modern Language Association) and APA (American Psychological Association) formats and how to properly cite sources in the afore-mentioned formats. We also learned of online tools that can assist in the citation process.
2. MLA focuses more on the author, APA focuses more on the date published. MLA is more suitable to the humanities, while APA is more suitable to the sciences.
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Dueling with Dualism: or Review due Wednesday, Nov. 14, 2007
I was about to embark on a journey that would take me through the crests and valleys of a landscape of information... and I had no clue where to begin. Luckily, I had instructions supplied by the information guru, known to us only as professor Soules. Little did I know, that these simple instructions would lead to a far more complex discovery. A leaf of paper in my hand, this is how my journey began.
The leaf of paper noted, I then proceeded to my computer, and from there I sought the knowledge of the one known as Academic Search Premier. This was my first stop, for it was the first listed on the instructions. Once I had confronted Academic Search Premier, it asked one thing, "What are your search terms?" I replied, "body and soul." It replied with a body of texts that could crush me if dropped from the second level of a building. Intimidated by this continent of knowledge, I asked Academic Search Premier if it could refine my search to Academic Journals and then further refine it to "dualism." Fortunately, Academic Search Premier sensed the importance of my task and quickly complied. My searched was refined and I immediately caught sight of a text called, "Mind incarnate: from Dewey to Damasio." I took note of the fact that this text was published by an academic journal that covers the discipline of philosophy, it clearly had authority and an in-depth philosophical angle on the topic of dualism. How could I be certain of its relevance, though? This question was then answered by the highlighted subject terms that displayed the words "dualism" and "mind & body" in blinding glory, clearly before my eyes. This relevance was strengthened further by the brief description provided, "The article discusses the theory which states that the human mind is intrinsically incarnate. Most people find this hard to accept. Only a handful of intellectually courageous philosophers have embraced a nondualistic view of mind and pursued such a view. Philosophers loathe to give up the notion of a transcendent soul and a disembodied mind." We have a winner!
Academic Search Premier led me to its fortune of information, but it only teased my curiosity. I had to seek the wisdom of the Philosopher's Index. So, I did. The instructions instructed that I seek a database in a discipline after a general database. So, I did. After initial contact, I inquired the Philosopher's Index about the terms "body and soul." It replied with a text by the name of, "Kim Against Dualism." Published in a philosophical journal, "Philosophical Studies: An International Journal for Philosophy in the Analytic Tradition." Beautiful, beautiful authority. Relevance and angle? No problem, "This paper presents and evaluates Jaegwon Kim's recent argument against substance dualism." It seemed to contain a few philosophical terms, which may pose problems for a general audience, but fails to threaten the philosophy major on his information quest. Next stop?
The library catalog. After asking about "dualism" I was led to the text, "Descartes' dualism." Authority was claimed by Harvard University Press. Relevance and angle were claimed by the subject listing of, "Contribution in dualist doctrine of mind and body." And I claimed the search a success.
Soon, I claimed the realm of the World Wide Web. Clack, clack, clack... google... "dualism"... loading... Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Authority? I pray that a university's leviathan philosophical encyclopedia satisfies that. Relevance? Does 12,719 words on the topic of dualism throughout the history of philosophy qualify? Hmm, I guess it will do.
Now, at the end of my quest, I think I barely escaped an overdose on dualism. But, I shall include some reflections on my epic task. By providence, adjustments did not have to be made to my search. Why do I think this happened? I suspect this fortune can be traced to my terms and choice of databases. "Body and soul" and "dualism" are topic-specific terms, almost always associated with philosophy. The Philosopher's Index was an obvious choice for such a search, and the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy was a clear choice for an internet search. Search terms and choice of database: highly significance.
And my sources? They included a wide-spectrum of information on dualism. The source unearthed from Academic Search Premier, "Mind incarnate: from Dewey to Damasio" by Mark Johnson, argues against the idea of dualism. My source from the Philosopher's Index by David Jehle, "Kim Against Dualism," presents and evaluates a specific argument against dualism. "Descartes' Dualism" by Marleen Rozemond, a text found through the library catalog studies 17th century dualistic conceptions. Lastly, the gargantuan dualism page on the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy covers the major arguments on dualism throughout the history of philosophy; the most comprehensive source by far. All the sources differ in their approach to dualism. One argues against dualism, one examines a specific argument, one studies it in a specific era, and one covers it throughout the history of philosophy. Let us hope that explains why I choose them.
And what about bibliographical information? I identified the authors, titles, publishers, years published, journal titles, and volume numbers for the sources from Academic Search Premier, the Philosopher's Index and the library catalog. The title, URL, publish date, and date visited were identified for the dualism page on the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Did I learn anything? I learned that my cluster topic is pretty damn huge. People write entire books about it. It has been debated for over 2,000 years. It is kind of a big deal. I'd be lying if I said I just learned that though. I already know what dualism (mind-body dualism in this case) is, and I already know it is a debated philosophical topic. If anything, I learned that I have a lot of learn. The detail and scope of the arguments in my sources are almost unbearable. Maybe, I will learn how to bear them as my philosophical inquiry continues.
How can I continue my quest? By asking questions. The first would be, what ethical issues arise from mind-body dualism? What metaphysical problems are posed by mind-body dualism, would be the second. These questions do not even require a database, unless a mind fits the definition. All sorts of answers can be provided in response to these questions, given a few moments of thought.
What if I want to search for more information? I can use another database! Lexis Nexus is readily accessible and is another general database that may bring me to many more results.
So, is my quest over? Or has it just begun?...
The leaf of paper noted, I then proceeded to my computer, and from there I sought the knowledge of the one known as Academic Search Premier. This was my first stop, for it was the first listed on the instructions. Once I had confronted Academic Search Premier, it asked one thing, "What are your search terms?" I replied, "body and soul." It replied with a body of texts that could crush me if dropped from the second level of a building. Intimidated by this continent of knowledge, I asked Academic Search Premier if it could refine my search to Academic Journals and then further refine it to "dualism." Fortunately, Academic Search Premier sensed the importance of my task and quickly complied. My searched was refined and I immediately caught sight of a text called, "Mind incarnate: from Dewey to Damasio." I took note of the fact that this text was published by an academic journal that covers the discipline of philosophy, it clearly had authority and an in-depth philosophical angle on the topic of dualism. How could I be certain of its relevance, though? This question was then answered by the highlighted subject terms that displayed the words "dualism" and "mind & body" in blinding glory, clearly before my eyes. This relevance was strengthened further by the brief description provided, "The article discusses the theory which states that the human mind is intrinsically incarnate. Most people find this hard to accept. Only a handful of intellectually courageous philosophers have embraced a nondualistic view of mind and pursued such a view. Philosophers loathe to give up the notion of a transcendent soul and a disembodied mind." We have a winner!
Academic Search Premier led me to its fortune of information, but it only teased my curiosity. I had to seek the wisdom of the Philosopher's Index. So, I did. The instructions instructed that I seek a database in a discipline after a general database. So, I did. After initial contact, I inquired the Philosopher's Index about the terms "body and soul." It replied with a text by the name of, "Kim Against Dualism." Published in a philosophical journal, "Philosophical Studies: An International Journal for Philosophy in the Analytic Tradition." Beautiful, beautiful authority. Relevance and angle? No problem, "This paper presents and evaluates Jaegwon Kim's recent argument against substance dualism." It seemed to contain a few philosophical terms, which may pose problems for a general audience, but fails to threaten the philosophy major on his information quest. Next stop?
The library catalog. After asking about "dualism" I was led to the text, "Descartes' dualism." Authority was claimed by Harvard University Press. Relevance and angle were claimed by the subject listing of, "Contribution in dualist doctrine of mind and body." And I claimed the search a success.
Soon, I claimed the realm of the World Wide Web. Clack, clack, clack... google... "dualism"... loading... Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Authority? I pray that a university's leviathan philosophical encyclopedia satisfies that. Relevance? Does 12,719 words on the topic of dualism throughout the history of philosophy qualify? Hmm, I guess it will do.
Now, at the end of my quest, I think I barely escaped an overdose on dualism. But, I shall include some reflections on my epic task. By providence, adjustments did not have to be made to my search. Why do I think this happened? I suspect this fortune can be traced to my terms and choice of databases. "Body and soul" and "dualism" are topic-specific terms, almost always associated with philosophy. The Philosopher's Index was an obvious choice for such a search, and the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy was a clear choice for an internet search. Search terms and choice of database: highly significance.
And my sources? They included a wide-spectrum of information on dualism. The source unearthed from Academic Search Premier, "Mind incarnate: from Dewey to Damasio" by Mark Johnson, argues against the idea of dualism. My source from the Philosopher's Index by David Jehle, "Kim Against Dualism," presents and evaluates a specific argument against dualism. "Descartes' Dualism" by Marleen Rozemond, a text found through the library catalog studies 17th century dualistic conceptions. Lastly, the gargantuan dualism page on the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy covers the major arguments on dualism throughout the history of philosophy; the most comprehensive source by far. All the sources differ in their approach to dualism. One argues against dualism, one examines a specific argument, one studies it in a specific era, and one covers it throughout the history of philosophy. Let us hope that explains why I choose them.
And what about bibliographical information? I identified the authors, titles, publishers, years published, journal titles, and volume numbers for the sources from Academic Search Premier, the Philosopher's Index and the library catalog. The title, URL, publish date, and date visited were identified for the dualism page on the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Did I learn anything? I learned that my cluster topic is pretty damn huge. People write entire books about it. It has been debated for over 2,000 years. It is kind of a big deal. I'd be lying if I said I just learned that though. I already know what dualism (mind-body dualism in this case) is, and I already know it is a debated philosophical topic. If anything, I learned that I have a lot of learn. The detail and scope of the arguments in my sources are almost unbearable. Maybe, I will learn how to bear them as my philosophical inquiry continues.
How can I continue my quest? By asking questions. The first would be, what ethical issues arise from mind-body dualism? What metaphysical problems are posed by mind-body dualism, would be the second. These questions do not even require a database, unless a mind fits the definition. All sorts of answers can be provided in response to these questions, given a few moments of thought.
What if I want to search for more information? I can use another database! Lexis Nexus is readily accessible and is another general database that may bring me to many more results.
So, is my quest over? Or has it just begun?...
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Research Log Entry (due Thursday, Nov. 8, 2007)
1. a) Substance, body, and soul: Aristotelian investigation (book stacks)
b) Plato dictionary (reference stacks)
2. BF173.J85 M445 (book stacks)
B351 .S7 (reference stacks)
3. a) I used the search terms "body and soul" and specified the search to only show texts from the book stacks. I immediately found several relevant results. I then used the same search terms, but specified the search to only show texts from the reference stacks
b) My search of the reference stacks yielded no results with the search terms "body and soul."
c) So, I modified my search terms to "Plato" and I came across a text called "Plato dictionary," which most likely contains Platonic conceptions of the body and soul.
b) Plato dictionary (reference stacks)
2. BF173.J85 M445 (book stacks)
B351 .S7 (reference stacks)
3. a) I used the search terms "body and soul" and specified the search to only show texts from the book stacks. I immediately found several relevant results. I then used the same search terms, but specified the search to only show texts from the reference stacks
b) My search of the reference stacks yielded no results with the search terms "body and soul."
c) So, I modified my search terms to "Plato" and I came across a text called "Plato dictionary," which most likely contains Platonic conceptions of the body and soul.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Research Log Entry (due Monday, Nov. 5, 2007)
1. We learned how to use the library catalog, and we learned how to use a call number to find a book.
2. Subject headings are based on the Library of Congress Subject Headings; words just search for articles containing the words used in the search.
3. Subject headings can search for the sources that the Library of Congress put in that particular subject; they're good for projects on a single subject. Words can bring up sources that may be relevant, but do not lie within a single subject; they're good for projects that must cover material that is broader than a single subject.
2. Subject headings are based on the Library of Congress Subject Headings; words just search for articles containing the words used in the search.
3. Subject headings can search for the sources that the Library of Congress put in that particular subject; they're good for projects on a single subject. Words can bring up sources that may be relevant, but do not lie within a single subject; they're good for projects that must cover material that is broader than a single subject.
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Research Log Entry (due Thursday, Nov. 2, 2007)
1. How does Socrates' ideas of the body and soul compare to current concepts of the body and soul?
2. - Socrates and body and soul
- Current and body and soul
- Concepts and body and soul
- Body and soul
3. a) I started with the Philosopher's Index database, and first used the search terms "body and soul," which brought me a huge index of texts on the body and soul. I immediately found both current and classical texts which explore the ideas of the body and soul. Luckily, on my first search I encountered no difficulties. My success was most likely due to my choice of database.
b) Article 1 (Scholarly Journal): Ancient Philosophy, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 422-427, Fall 2006
Article 2 (Scholarly Journal): Philosophical Studies: An International Journal for Philosophy in the Analytic Tradition, vol. 130, no. 3, pp. 565-578, September 2006
Article 3 (Scholarly Journal): Phronesis: A Journal of Ancient Philosophy, vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 1-23, 2004
c) I could try the other search terms that I formulated; experiment with different Boolean operators; try different databases; develop new search terms; or ask a librarian!
2. - Socrates and body and soul
- Current and body and soul
- Concepts and body and soul
- Body and soul
3. a) I started with the Philosopher's Index database, and first used the search terms "body and soul," which brought me a huge index of texts on the body and soul. I immediately found both current and classical texts which explore the ideas of the body and soul. Luckily, on my first search I encountered no difficulties. My success was most likely due to my choice of database.
b) Article 1 (Scholarly Journal): Ancient Philosophy, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 422-427, Fall 2006
Article 2 (Scholarly Journal): Philosophical Studies: An International Journal for Philosophy in the Analytic Tradition, vol. 130, no. 3, pp. 565-578, September 2006
Article 3 (Scholarly Journal): Phronesis: A Journal of Ancient Philosophy, vol. 49, no. 1, pp. 1-23, 2004
c) I could try the other search terms that I formulated; experiment with different Boolean operators; try different databases; develop new search terms; or ask a librarian!
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