Robbins Library Notes

Good morning! Today’s post will review Blackwell’s database, Synergy.

What it is

Synergy is Blackwell’s database of journals. According to the Synergy home page, the database is “the home of over 1 million articles from over 850 journals.”

Strengths

• The database is home to current issues of nearly 40 philosophy journals, including, but not limited to:
  • Analysis
  • Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society
  • Philosophical Quarterly
  • Midwest Studies in Philosophy
  • Philosophy & Phenomenological Research.

Limitations

• I have found that the graphics used on Synergy are large and clunky. They will slow down your searching if your computer has low memory, or if you have a slow Internet connection.

Using Synergy

Here is how to access journals in Synergy:

1. The most obvious way is to search for the journal in HOLLIS and go directly to Synergy via the link in the catalog record.

But, say you want to browse through Synergy, or do some broader research within the database. Here’s how to go about doing it:

1. Go to the HOLLIS search page, and select the “Digital Resources” tab.
2. Set the “Search type” to “Title beginning with,” and the search terms to “synergy”
3. In the results list, you’ll see both “Synergy” and “Synergy (Online).” Click on either link, as they are the same record.
4. You will see two links: click on either one to get to the Synergy home page.
5. From there, you have three choices:
   1. Browsing I: On the home page, in the center of the page, you will see a listing of “All Journals by Subject,” with a short list of the broad subject categories. Click on “Humanities,” which should open up a list of sub-categories. Click on “Philosophy” to see a complete list of all the journals listed in this sub-category. From here, you should be able to link directly to the journal(s) you’re interested in viewing. Please see slides 1 and 2 of the attached PDF file for screen shots.
   2. Browsing II: On the home page, and on other search pages, you’ll see a “Quick Link” option in the right-hand corner. Here, you can select a journal from a drop-down menu, and go directly to it. You can also add in volume number, issue number, and year, if you know that as well. Please see slide 3 of the attached PDF file for a screen shot.
   3. Searching: Also in the right-hand corner of the home page is the “Quick Search” option. This is useful for doing broader searches, as well as searches for specific articles. My preference is to go right away to the “Advanced Search” option. When you get to the Advanced Search page, enter in your information. My only suggestion for this page is to change the “Order by:” option from “Relevance” to “Date (latest first)”. Why? Because it’s not clear what algorithm the database is using to determine the relevancy of articles. What is relevant to Synergy may not be so for you, and vice versa. I personally find it easier to scroll through a list of articles in reverse chronological order (i.e., the newest material is first), but you may not find it so. Please see slides 4 and 5 of the attached PDF file for screen shots.

Summary

Synergy is a great database to use if you’re looking for current articles and research in philosophy. Used in conjunction with Philosopher’s Index, JSTOR, and Academic Search Premier, it can broaden the amount of research available to you immensely.

Update, 6/19/2009: As of 30 June 2008, Synergy will cease to exist.  All content will be merged with the Wiley Interscience platform, and loaded there.  More information about the merger is available here.