The following links may involve subscription-only services, which may be available through your local library or educational institution.
Barton Catalog — MIT's Library Catalog
VERA — MIT Virtual Electronic Resources Access
Philosopher's Index — Available online through: CSA Illumina. Index and abstracts of some 500 journal articles (1940-present).
Simpson, J. A., and E. S. C. Weiner. The Oxford English Dictionary. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1989. ISBN: 9780198611868. Online at Oxford English Dictionary or through your local library.
Oxford Reference Online — Excellent source for definitions and quick background information. Covers a variety of disciplines.
Honderich, Ted. The Oxford Companion to Philosophy. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, 2005. ISBN: 9780199264797.
Dictionary of Philosophical Terms and Names — 1000 entries covering names and terms.
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy — Entries and updates are refereed.
Horowitz, Maryanne Cline. New Dictionary of the History of Ideas. Detroit, MI: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2004. ISBN: 9780684313771. Available online through: GALE
Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy Online
Craig, Edward. The Shorter Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy. New York, NY: Routledge, 2005. ISBN: 9780415324953.
Read information you find from any source with a critical eye. Consider these points when evaluating books, articles, and Web sites.
Who wrote it? What ideas is the author trying to promote? Does the author tend to favor one idea over others? How does the affect the conclusions drawn?
Check
Where's the information from? (see "Who?")
Check
How old is the information?
Check the following:
Gibaldi, Joseph. MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers. New York, NY: Modern Language Association of America, 2003. ISBN: 9780873529860.
MLA site's FAQ (e.g. I am using a source on the Web that has no page numbers. How do I cite it?)
The MIT Writing Center at directs you to the University of Wisconsin's page about the MLA basics. Other good sources include: