Soc 159 - SOCIOLOGY OF CRIME
Most of the resources listed on this page are available from the library home page at http://www.scu.edu/library. When you try to connect to one of the library databases from home or off-campus, you will be asked for a user id (your name, first name last name) and a password (the barcode on the back of your access card).
Find Books on Your Topic
Use OSCAR, the library online catalog
Do a keyword search on your topic.
For example:
Hate crime* and Asian American*
Date rape and college*
Prostitution and child*
Searching Tips:
1) An asterisk * at the end of a word picks up different endings. For example child* would pick up children as well.
2) If you do a keyword search and you don't retrieve many books on your topic, think about possible synonyms you can use and redo your search. For example, date rape is also called acquaintance rape; and health care can also be defined as medical care.
Find Background on Your topic
-To find an overview of the research done on your topic, you may want to start with an encyclopedia such as the Encyclopedia of Crime and Social Justice (available online via OSCAR).
After you connect to the online encyclopedia, enter your topic (prostitution for example) in the Quick Search box and select "Search within this publication".
-To find background information on your topic , use CQ Researcher
This online resource (available from the list of databases on the library home page) covers the most current and controversial issues of the day complete with summaries, background information, insight into all sides of the issues, outlook, bibliographies and more.
Find Scholarly Articles on Your Topic
Use one of the following databases to find scholarly articles on your topic. To access them from the library home page, click on "Electronic Databases A-Z" and select the one you want to try
SOCIAL SCIENCES FULL-TEXT:
This database "indexes and abstracts articles from over 544 different English language periodicals in the social sciences from 1983 to the present. Full-text articles are available from about 175 of these periodicals." If you only want articles from scholarly journals, limit your search to "Peer Reviewed".
SOCIOLOGICAL ABSTRACTS:
This database indexes and abstracts articles from over 2, 600 journals and other publications and provides access to the latest research in sociology
ACADEMIC SEARCH ELITE:
This multidisciplinary database is good for all topics. It includes many full-text articles. Limit your search to "Peer Reviewed (Scholarly) Journals" to eliminate popular magazine articles.
SOCIAL SCIENCES CITATION INDEX
Index to the journal literature of the social sciences. It fully covers over 1,400 journals spanning 50 disciplines. Coverage also includes items relevant to the social sciences selected from 7,000 other journals. 1994-present.
POLICYFILE
Indexes public policy research and analysis from think tanks, university research programs, research organizations and publishers. Provides links to fulltext where available.
There are many other databases available for sociology research. For a list of what is available to you at Santa Clara, go to: http://www.scu.edu/library/resources/databases/subject/sociology/
Locate the Full Text of Journal Articles
Sometimes, you won't get the full-text of an article in a database, only a short summary. When this happens, you will have to check if the library has a print subscription to the journal or if it is accessible in electronic format in another database. To do that:
- Go to the library home page at http://www.scu.edu/library.
- Click on "Electronic and Print Journals by Title and Subject," then enter the title of the journal you are looking for (be careful: enter the title of the journal, not the title of the article).
- You will then be able to see if the library has a subscription to the journal, either in print or in electronic format.
- If the library has an electronic subscription to the journal, just follow the link. If the library subscribes to the print journal, you will have to request it from the ARS.
If the library doesn't have access to a particular journal in print or electronic format, you will need to use the Interlibrary loan service, Bronco Express, to obtain a copy of the article from another library. To access Bronco Express, go to the library home page and click on "Bronco Express (ILL)" then click on "Place an interlibrary loan request for a journal article" and just fill out the form. This is a free service but it may take up to a week, so you have to plan in advance.
Find Newspaper Articles
Newspaper articles can provide you with more current information on your topic (recent developments, proposed legislations, etc.) The following databases should help you locate articles from various publications.
Lexis-Nexis Academic : Fulltext database of thousands of magazine and newspaper articles, news wires, legal and government sources. Dates of coverage and updates vary from title to title.
New York Times Archives : Full text of The New York Times newspaper from 1851-2003. The full-text of more current articles is available via LexisNexis Academic.
National Newspaper Index : Index to The Christian Science Monitor, 1979-present; Los Angeles Times, 1982-present; The New York Times, 1979-present; The New York Times Book Review, 1977-present; The New York Times Magazine, 2/1977-present; The Wall Street Journal, 1980-present; and The Washington Post, 2/1980-present.
Newspapers Source : Provides selected full text coverage for more than 240 newspapers and other sources. This collection includes cover-to-cover full text for USA Today, The Christian Science Monitor and The Times (London) and full text transcripts from Face the Nation, CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, 60 Minutes, O'Reilly Factor, Hannity & Colmes, National Public Radio, etc. Dates of coverage vary for individual titles, but usually not more than 5 or 6 years.
San Jose Mercury News : Full-text of the San Jose Mercury News from 1985 to the present.
San Francisco Chronicle : The web version of the Chronicle provides the full text of the current issue, as well as archives going back to 1995. The archives are limited to staff written material.
A Few Good Web Sites on Crime and Criminal Justice
NCJRS: National Criminal Justice Reference Service
http://www.ncjrs.gov/
Produced by the US National Institute of Justice, National Criminal Justice Reference Service covers all aspects of law enforcement, crime prevention, criminal justice, and juvenile justice. Use the advanced search mode for best results.
Bureau of Justice Statistics
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/
If You Need More Help
If you need more help finding book, articles, or web sites for your research paper, don't hesitate to contact me:
Helene Lafrance
Social Sciences Librarian
Office: Leavey Center, Second Floor
hlafrance@scu.edu
Tel: (408)551-1740
You can also come to the information desk in the Interim Library, or use the Ask a Librarian online service (available 24 hours a day) or our Instant Messaging reference service (available at all times the desk is open).
This page is maintained by Helene Lafrance. Last updated on 08/08/2007