Welcome!
This guide exists to help you, the online Criminal Justice student. This guide is what librarians refer to as a research guide, an “online resource that provides detailed information, instructions, and advice concerning the best strategies, techniques, and resources for research in a subject or field of study” (Reitz). The purpose of this guide is to anticipate your research needs, providing you with a starting point to begin your research (Sinksinson, et al. 63). Past research has shown that students often have difficulty choosing a topic and are unsure of where to begin their research (Head 433-434). This guide furnishes you with direct access to reference works, eBooks and journals while also presenting you with potential search strategies, instructional information concerning how to utilize the libraries online resources, and directions for how to access library resources off campus (Sinkinson, et al. 69).
It is our hope that this guide will provide you with the tools you need to be successful in your research and study. Please feel free to contact the library should you need more individualized assistance. The library faculty and staff are here to help you in your academic endeavors so don’t hesitate to contact us with your comments and questions.
Works Cited:
Head, Alison J. “Information Literacy from the Trenches: How Do Humanities and Social Science Majors Conduct Academic Research? College & Research Libraries, vol. 69, no. 5, 2008, pp. 427-445.
Reitz, Joan M. Online Dictionary for Library and Information Science. Libraries Unlimited, 2014.
Sinkinson, Caroline, et al. “Guiding Design: Exposing Librarian and Student Mental Models of Research Guides.” Libraries and the Academy, vol. 12, no. 1, 2012, pp. 63-84. DOI: 10.1353/pla.2012.0008.
