LIBRARY INSTRUCTIONAL GUIDE
CRIMINAL JUSTICE
Criminal Justice is a broad-based discipline dealing with the consequences of criminal behavior, its effect upon society and the nature of punishment in both its
historic and legal aspects.
Finding Books [using
the online book catalog]:
The Library of Congress (LC) Classification System is used by most college and university libraries to classify and arrange books on the shelves. The following letters from the LC System are useful in researching these subjects:
Social Sciences [general] H
Social Pathology. Social and Public Welfare.
Criminology. HV
Political Science J
Law K
Go to these sections in Reference or the general stacks to browse these topic areas. For more detailed information, ask the librarian on duty for a handout describing the complete range of the Library of Congress Classification System.
Sample Search Terms
[for use in the online book catalog or other databases]:
law and legislation, jurisprudence, crime, criminals, legal research, criminal procedure, forensic medicine, constitutional law, murder, torts, history of legal systems, social pathologies, capital punishment, Supreme Court
Suggested Print
Resources [in the Reference Section]:
Texas
Legal Directory
West’s
Encyclopedia of American Law
Encyclopedia
of the American Judicial System
Texas
Peace Officer
Criminal
Justice Dictionary
Famous
American Crimes and Trials
Black’s
Law Dictionary
Use the online book catalog to determine the call numbers for the above items, or ask for help at the Information Desk.
Online Databases:
Online databases yield important information published in the periodical literature, including magazines, professional journals and newspapers. Some of our most authoritative sources for this type of information are:
EBSCOhost
Academic Search Complete [contains complete Legal Collection]
WilsonWeb
GaleNet
InfoTrac [for newspaper articles]
Click on our library home page under “Online Databases” to access these resources. All of them contain full-text capabilities, allowing selected articles to be printed out in their entirety.
Internet Resources
[selected]:
These content-rich websites contain much useful data. However, as with all Net-based searching, students should be discriminating about what they are finding and using. Not all resources on the Internet are equal. These have been found to be reliable.
Search
government websites
Bureau
of Justice Statistics
National
Criminal Justice Reference Service
Capital
punishment
http://usinfo.state.gov/dhr/human_rights/capital_punishment.html
Guide
to legal history resources
http://tarlton.law.ytexas.edu/rare/legalhis.html
Citation Style: APA [American Psychological Association]
Correct citation form is that preferred by your teacher. APA style is almost always utilized in the social sciences. Our web page contains suggestions for APA style under “Student Resources.” Click there for more information. The most recent edition of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association is kept in the Reference section. It is the most authoritative source for all questions about APA citation form.
Tutorials: [under construction]
For further information, call the general library reference number at
956-721-5274 at the Main Yeary library or 956-794-4261 at the Zaffirini (South)
library. We are available during all
hours the library is open.
You may also reach us by email at reference_desk@laredo.edu.