Use of Full-Text Electronic Resources by Philosophy Students at UNC-Chapel Hill: A Citation Analysis

This study addresses the issue of how important full-text electronic resources are to the advanced research of undergraduate and graduate philosophy students. The fact that students in the humanities tend to rely on resources that are often not available in full-text electronic format suggests that this format is of somewhat marginal importance to philosophy students, but no empirical studies have verified this. By performing a citation analysis of undergraduate honors theses and masters theses completed at UNC-Chapel Hill between 1998 and 2000, the researcher presents empirical evidence suggesting that students performing high-level philosophy research at UNC-Chapel Hill during this period made little use of material available in full-text electronic form.