Finding Books

To find books in FLITE, try either Subject or Keyword searches in the online catalog. Criminal Justice materials are often found in the HV call number range found on the Lower Level at FLITE.

Book Locations

Main Stacks, Call Numbers A-H - Lower Level
Main Stacks, Call Numbers J-Z - Third Floor
Reference - First Floor
Government Documents - Second Floor

MelCat

MeLCat is a relatively new service that allows you to borrow materials from nearly 200 public and academic libraries across the state of Michigan. MeLCat books generally take from 3-5 working days to arrive. Access the service using the "Search MeLCat" at the top of the online card catalog page. You may only request items from MeLCat which are not in the Ferris online catalog.

Research Guide: Criminal Justice

To find print reference sources available in FLITE that are useful for Criminal Justice, use this Research Guide If you are in FLITE and need assistance, please contact the South Service Desk at 591-3602. A web-based Subject Reference Guide for Criminal Justice is also available to help you research.

The Internet

There are many webpages on the Internet which seem to provide quality information, but be aware that many provide less than valuable or credible information. Check out these websites for some real examples. Use this Internet Resources Evaluation Checklist as a tool for selecting reliable, authoritative sites.

Finding Journal Articles

To find journal articles on a particular topic, it's necessary to use one o r more of the databases available on the FLITE Web site. These databases cumulatively provide indexing to thousands of journal titles. A few of the databases provide full-text (content of the articles is found directly within the database), but most only provide citations (description of where the article originally appeared in print).

General Databases

InfoTrac
A very large full-text database with over 50 million articles covering a myriad of subjects, General OneFile indexes both newspapers and journals. Coverage is from 1980 to present. A few journals, especially older dates, give only selective full-text.

Wilson Select Plus
This completely full-text database includes articles from a wide range of subject fields including science, humanities, education and business. Coverage is from 1994 to the present.

Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center
The Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center contains full-text book chapters and articles covering all sides of contemporary controversial issues (abortion, animal rights, capital punishment, drug abuse, gun control, terrorism, etc.). Material is taken from the Opposing Viewpoints book series and several dozen major magazines and newspapers.

Criminal Justice Databases

Criminal Justice Abstracts
With citations dating back to 1968, Criminal Justice Abstracts is prepared in cooperation with the Criminal Justice Collection of Rutgers University Library. Indexing journal articles, books, and government reports, Criminal Justice Abstracts covers such topics as crime trends, crime prevention and deterrence, juvenile delinquency, juvenile justice, police courts, and sentencing.

Criminal Justice Periodicals Index
This database provides selective full-text coverage to journals in the fields of law enforcement, corrections administration, social work, drug rehabilitation, criminal and family law, industrial security, and other criminal justice fields. Citations extend back to 1981.

National Criminal Justice Reference Service
The National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) contains more than 7,000 full-text reports, most authored by the U.S. Department of Justice, on a myriad of criminal justice-related topics. Also available from NCJRS are abstracts for more than 180,000 Federal, state, and local government reports; books; journal articles; and unpublished research. The full-text reports can be found by selecting the tab labeled "A-Z Publications/Products". The abstracts are available via the "Library/Abstracts" tab. (This is a resource freely available on the web, helpful for work done once you leave campus.)

For information on accessing databases from off-campus, click here.

Getting the Article

Once you've found citations relevant to the topic you're working with and you need to get a copy of the articles, you'll need to verify whether FLITE owns the particular journal in which each article was published. Many databases now have a link called "Find It", which, by clicking on it, will give you the range of options available for document retrieval (print, microform, online). If the full text of the article is available, you will be able to find the article by clicking on the link.

If the only message you see is "Request document via Interlibrary Loan", you will need to order the article. By clicking on the link in the window provided, you will be directed to a blank Interlibrary Loan form to be filled out. Sometimes the Find It button will provide a link to the Online Catalog. This indicates that the journal is found in FLITE's print collection. If you are off-campus and can't come to FLITE, simply order the article through Interlibrary Loan.

To look up whether FLITE owns a particular journal, use the Find a Periodical database to search for the journal title. Remember to use the journal title not the article title for your search.

Journal Locations

These are locations for journals FLITE has in physical formats:

Current Periodicals - Second Floor
Bound Periodicals (1996 - present) - Second Floor
Bound Periodicals (before 1996) - Lower Level
Microforms (microfilm and microfiche) - Second Floor

Remember that the staff at the Information Desk on the Second Floor can help locate journals and use the microfilm or microfiche reader printers.

If FLITE does not own the article in any format, use InterLibrary Loan.

Citing Sources

Whenever you are quoting or using information from a source, you must credit or cite that source. Failure to do so is plagiarism which can lead to expulsion from the University. The following links provide information on how to use APA.

Citation Style Guide: APA (PDF)
An online version of the APA handout given out in class, requires Adoboe Acrobat Reader.

APA List of References
More examples of how cite different types of sources using the APA format.

Copies of the full-length APA manual (Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 5th ed.) are found in the Ready Reference section on Floor 1 of the library (the shelf near the South Service Desk), Call Number: BF 76.7 .P83 2001.

Help

In addition, librarians are available at the South Service Desk to help you find information to complete your course assignments and reports. If you would prefer to contact Library Instruction Coordinator Kristy Motz personally, please email.

Don't forget, you are welcome to come to the South Service Desk and ask for help at any time.

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Last Update: September 8, 2006