Research - Assignment | Criminology Final Project (Johnson) - Research Guides at Lone Star College

Library Resources

General/Multi-disciplinary

Some of the databases are multi-disciplinary, which means you don't have to worry so much about how sociological versus legal versus historic your information need is.

Academic Search Complete (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
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Multi-disciplinary database; full text of articles from over 5,300 journals, magazines and newspapers, plus image collections.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
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Complete historical full text of all issues of peer-reviewed journals in a wide range of humanities and social science fields. (pronounced jay-store)
Gale in Context: Opposing Viewpoints This link opens in a new window
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Provides topic overviews as well as collects a variety of sources, including statistics, reference materials, journal articles, news articles, images, and audio broadcasts.
Ebook Central This link opens in a new window
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Over 100,000 e-book titles covering a full range of academic topics. General reference works are also included.
EBSCO eBook Collection This link opens in a new window
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Search complete e-books. Read in browser, or create an account to download books to various devices.

Subject-Specific

When choosing a database, think about what information you're really trying to find and what subject area that fits into. Some of the more specialized databases that may be useful to include:

Psychology & Behavioral Sciences Collection (EBSCO) This link opens in a new window
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Nearly 575 full-text publications, including some 550 peer-reviewed journals, in psychiatry, psychology, and related fields.

Even More Databases:

Consider which disciplines apply to your specific topic when choosing your databases.

Research Databases (Main Page)

Databases (A-Z List)

United States

National Archive of Criminal Justice Data
Search for date from 1978 onward to find government reports.
FBI Crime Data Explorer
Bureau of Justice Statistics
Information on crime, criminal offenders, victims of crime, and the operation of justice systems at all levels of government.
NCJRS Virtual Library
Search or browse the National Criminal Justice Reference Service
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program
The Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program has been the starting place for law enforcement executives, students of criminal justice, researchers, members of the media, and the public at large seeking information on crime in the nation.
National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS)
The NIBRS captures detailed information on each single crime occurrence. Designed for law enforcement, the NIBRS has the flexibility to gather administrative facts on crime incidents as well as varied information about the victims, offenses, arrestees, and property involved in them.
Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics
Brings together data from more than 100 published and unpublished sources about many aspects of criminal justice in the United States.
Federal Bureau of Prisons, Weekly Population Report
Latest inmate count and staff statistics in each federal facility and in total with demographic breakdowns.
DEA Data & Statistics
US Drug Enforcement Administration.
National Youth Gang Survey Analysis
From the National Gang Center. First population sample spanned 1996-2001; current sample covers 2002-2012.
CDC: Correctional Health
Correctional health encompasses all aspects of health and well-being for adults and juveniles who are justice system*-involved, from their arrest, during detention or incarceration, and through the time they return to their community (called “reentry”).

Accessing the Databases

Access online library materials through the library databases!

To access the databases from off-campus, you will be prompted to enter your 14-digit library barcode or your LSC email/password.

Don't have a barcode but want one? Request a barcode number online.

Discovery Search Search (nearly) all the library collections from one place, including articles, books and e-books, videos, and more.
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You can search without signing in, but once you click to access something, you'll be prompted to use your library barcode number or your LSC username/password.
A-Z Database List Sort & filter by subject and content types to find the specific collection you need.

Database Tips

Full Text: not seeing where to read an article? Check your filters for a full-text limiter.

Advanced search: AND = less results, more specific. Example: stress AND college students AND finals

Advanced search: NOT = less results, but not as few as AND. Example, school NOT public.

Advanced Search: OR = more results. Example: college OR university.

Psst -- what's a database?

In its most basic sense, a database (marked on these guides by the padlock icon ) is just a selection of information designed for you to search and retrieve stuff from it.

Amazon is a database you're probably familiar with: it's limited (only contains things you can buy through them) and retrievable (you can search and filter your results to find what you're looking for).

The library databases contain reputable, reliable sources of information to support researchers like you! This means everything from digital encyclopedias, e-books, scholarly journal articles, magazine and newspaper articles, streaming videos, statistics, and more.

Assignment | Criminology Final Project (Johnson): Research