Corrections and Society (CRIM 310)
This class help page is designed to guide you through a variety of resources that may be helpful to you as you research your topic for your paper on reformers in the area of criminal justice. Information on these people can be found in books (electronic and print) and journals as well as reliable web sites. Be sure to check your assignment for the exact requirements in regards to the types of sources you can use!!
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (DNB)
The Oxford DNB includes over 57,000 biographies of people "who shaped the history of the British Isles and beyond from the 4th century BC to the 21st century." Some entries can be quite lengthy and/or include illustrations.
Biography Reference Bank
Biography Reference Bank includes information on over 500,000 people with links to relevant articles and books.
Biography in Context
The Biography in Context includes information on over 380,000 people from throughout history and around the world from over 1,000 volumes of more than 135 reference titles. Change the search option to "Star of Last Name" and then type in the last name, first name. Your search results display includes one or more tabs along the top of the screen and may include lengthy and/or short biographies, magazine articles, and relevant websites. Sometimes a photo or portait is included.
Credo Reference
Credo Reference includes articles and essays from nearly 450 reference books. If you are researching someone with a very common name, you may wish to limit your results to "law". Additional resources are listed at the bottom of each essay.
Sage Reference Online
Sage Reference Online includes information from over 80 Sage encyclopedias. Criminal Justice is well-represented in this collection. Choose Advanced Search and limit your results to the subject "Criminology and Criminal Justice" for the most relevant results.
Criminal Justice Abstracts and Criminology (SAGE)
"Criminology: A SAGE Full-Text Collection includes the full-text of 24 journals published by SAGE and participating societies, some journals going back 86 years, encompassing over 20,400 articles."
"Criminal Justice Abstracts, the criminology database from SAGE Publications, contains comprehensive coverage of international journals, books, reports, dissertations and unpublished papers on criminology and related disciplines."
JSTOR
JSTOR "archives...over 1,000 leading academic journals across the humanities, social sciences, and sciences." "Journals are always included from volume 1, issue 1 and include previous and related titles. The most recently published issues (past 3-5 years) are not available."
Criminal Justice Periodicals Index
CJ Periodicals Index is a collection of articles from over 250 U.S. and international criminal justice journals.
Academic OneFile
Academic OneFile is a database with articles covering a very large range of topics, and is always a good source to look for articles in any discipline.
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 gives you the range of options available to find the material. If the full text of the article is available, you will be able to find the article by clicking on the link.
Sometimes the Find It button will provide a link to the Library 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 and mention you are an off-campus student in the Notes field.
Unless the person you are researching is exceptionally well-known, it is unlikely that entire books will have been written about him or her. A lot of the information will be found in reference books such as the ones described above in the Biography and Subject Encyclopedia sections.
To see if information can be found in books other than these electronic resources, search FLITE's online catalog. Trying both Subject searches (last name, first name) and Keyword searches may turn up results.
If nothing can be found, however, you may want to try Google Books. This is helpful - though by no means comprehensive - because you can search the contents of the books by keyword.
Search Google Books for your person or topic. If you find a "snippet" from a book that looks promising, click on "Find in a Library". Then click on "Connect to the catalog at Ferris State University Library".
Getting the Book
To get books sent to you, you have a variety of options.
If Ferris owns the title, you can request the book be sent to you through the Interlibrary Loan form. The book will be sent to your home; to return it, you either have to send it back via UPS, return it to the Kendall Library in Grand Rapids, or bring it to the Big Rapids campus.
If Ferris or some other library in Michigan owns the book, you can request it be sent to your local public library through MelCat.
If no library in Michigan owns the book, you can also request it through Interlibrary Loan; however, this does take some time and the book will be sent to the Big Rapids campus.
Search for reliable resources in government documents in Google's US Government search engine.
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.
To learn more about citations, check out this FLITE Citations page.
Print out the FLITE APA Citation Guide and use it to properly format your citations.
Another good resource for APA help is The Owl at Purdue University
Don't forget! Ferris' Writing Center will critique your papers, including biographies and works cited pages via email. Find more information at their website.
To avoid Plagiarism:
- Take clear, accurate notes about where you found specific ideas
- Write down the complete citation information for each item you use
- Use quotation marks when directly stating another person's words
- Always credit original authors for their information and ideas
For more information about Plagiarism, please explore the Plagiarism web page provided by the Ferris State University Writing Center.
Plagiarism is the act of presenting another's work or ideas as your own. Plagiarism is often unintentional, but it occurs whenever you use someone else's ideas or words without giving them credit. It can be obvious - purchasing a term paper or turning in a project done by someone else. It can be putting other's ideas into your own words. It can be cutting and pasting text from a web site. A simple rule: Do not copy text from Web pages or other sources without identifying and giving credit to the original author.
Here are some ways to avoid plagiarism, taken from PILOT, the FLITE Information Literacy Online Tutorial.
FLITE Distance Education Library
Services
One of our missions at FLITE is to offer all off-campus students access to the high-quality research materials available through the library. FLITE's subscription databases are available to all current Ferris students, faculty, and staff, including off-campus students. Our Distance Education web site should help you with any questions you may have about reaching FLITE from wherever you are. Be sure to study it c arefully and return to it often. If you experience problems logging on, please call (231) 591-2669 or (800) 4-FERRIS (ext. 2669).
Contact: Stacy Anderson / Email / Phone: 231-591-3635 / Office: FLITE 140C
Don't forget, you are welcome to come to the Oval Information Desk and ask for help any time. You can also call us 231-591-3602 or chat with us.
Last update: September 20, 2009