Collins Memorial Library: Crime, Law, and Justice Studies: Getting Started

Recommended Starting Points: Subject Encyclopedias

Subject encyclopedias are scholarly works written by experts on a variety of topics. The articles are typically longer and more detailed than general encyclopedias. The background information provides a good starting point as you begin the research process. Subject encyclopedias can help guide you with:

Understanding the scope of a topic
Suggesting ideas for narrowing a topic
Identifying key concepts, terms, dates and names
Listing subject areas related to a topic
Recommending sources for further exploration

What's a Tertiary Source?

Tertiary sources are excellent starting points! They consist of information synthesized from primary and secondary sources. Examples include:

Almanacs
Chronologies
Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
Directories
Fact books
Guidebooks
Indexes, abstracts, bibliographies used to locate primary and secondary sources
Manuals
Textbooks

These resources give you succinct overviews of your topic, explain scholarly arguments, point out interesting questions, and refer you to especially key sources.

Subject Encyclopedia Collections

CQ Press Library
Provides full text access to CQ Press encyclopedias, handbooks and periodicals.
SAGE Knowledge
The social sciences platform for SAGE and CQ Press books, reference materials and other content.
Gale eBooks
Provides full text online access to Gale electronic books, including encyclopedias and other reference resources.
ABC CLIO eBooks This link opens in a new window
This eBook Collection contains encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, and guides from ABC-CLIO, Greenwood Press, Libraries Unlimited, and Praeger.
Oxford Reference
Contains the complete texts of many Oxford companions, encyclopedias, dictionaries and other reference titles in a fully indexed, cross-searchable database. Included in addition to articles are images, maps, timelines, bibliographies, photographs and much more.

Individual Subject Encyclopedias (a selection)

American Prisons and Jails: An Encyclopedia of Controversies and Trends by Vidisha Barua Worley (Editor); Robert M. Worley (Editor)
Call Number: Click title for online access. (Limit of 1 simultaneous user)
Publication Date: 2019
This encyclopedia provides a rigorous and comprehensive summary of correctional systems and practices and their evolution throughout US history.

CQ Researcher
Full-text reports that cover background, main issues, pro/con, next steps, and further reading. Use the Issue Tracker to find related CQ reports and track an issue over time.

African Americans and Criminal Justice: an Encyclopedia by Delores D. Jones-Brown (Editor); Beverly D. Frazier (Editor); Marvie Brooks (Editor)
Call Number: Click title for online access.
Publication Date: 2014
African Americans and Criminal Justice: An Encyclopedia comprises descriptive essays documenting the ways in which people of African descent have been victimized by oppressive laws enacted by local, state, and federal authorities in the United States. The entries also describe how Blacks became disproportionately represented in national crime statistics, largely through their efforts to resist legalized oppression in early American history.
Encyclopedia of Prisons and Correctional Facilities by Mary F. Bosworth (Editor)
Call Number: Click title for online access.
Publication Date: 2005
This encyclopedia aims to provide a critical overview of penal institutions in the United States within historical and contemporary contexts. Issues of race, gender, and class are fully integrated throughout in order to demonstrate the complexity of the implementation and intended results of incarceration.
Encyclopedia of Race and Crime by Helen Taylor-Greene (Editor); Shaun L. Gabbidon (Editor)
Call Number: Click title for online access.
Publication Date: 2009
Race historically and presently figures prominently in crime and justice reporting within the United States, in the areas of hate crimes, racial profiling, sentencing disparities, wrongful convictions, felon disenfranchisement, political prisoners, juveniles and the death penalty, and culturally specific delinquency prevention programs. The Encyclopedia of Race and Crime covers issues in both historical and contemporary contexts.