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Directed Readings

LAWS 421; Prof. Samuels

Guide for finding sources at the George T. Potter Library

 

• Library Homepage
• Find Books
• Reference Material
• Find Articles (Databases)
• Interlibrary Loan/Journal Finder
• Bibliographies
• Websites

 

 I. Library Homepage

Provides access to the catalog (OPAC), databases, interlibrary loan forms, etc.

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II. Find Books

• Catalog: use this to find books, periodical titles (NOT articles), government documents, reserve item, music,and movies owned by the Library. You may limit a search by language, year(s) of publication, type of material, etc. This may take a few seconds to load.

• In Basic Search, search the catalog using Keywords to find material, for example:

   

  • Search for immigration or civil commitment to locate a broad range of material and look for ideas for your project

   

  • Use quotation marks around a multi-word phrase, e.g., "juvenile justice system", "gun control", or "death penalty" to ensure that the catalog will locate more focused results

 

OR

• Use the Subject Browse feature if you know the relevant Library of Congress (LC) subject heading, for example:

Emigration and immigration

Juvenile justice, Administration of

Juvenile courts

Capital punishment

European Union

Law enforcement

Gun control

• Click on to see scope notes

 

• Click on to see more information about the term you've entered, such as recommended narrower or broader terms

 

• To search for MALS theses: keyword search for "master of arts in liberal studies"

OR

• Go to Advanced Search

  The Boolean search terms are built in for your use to enable the catalog to provide more focused results:

  • AND: you are commanding the system to search for material that addresses both terms you've entered
  • OR: you are commanding the system to search for material on either of the search terms you have entered
  • NOT: you are commanding the system to search for material on the first term you have entered and to exclude any material on the second term you have entered

• To search catalogs of many New Jersey College and University Libraries, click here

Tips      

1. Start with broad searches. It's much easier to discard too much rather than start with too little.
2. If you don't know the Subject Heading, use the Subjects, etc... tab located on the top of a catalog record to get to the headings. This will help you focus in on more relevant material.
3. You can "virtually" browse the shelves by clicking on the call number in a record and viewing the records for similar items.

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III. Reference Material

• The reference stacks are located on the 3rd floor (this is also the library's entrance).
• Some useful materials for your projects:

Congressional Quarterly's Desk Reference on Amerian Criminal Justice	Ref HV9950.B364 2001
Death Penalty on Trial: A Handbook with Cases, Laws, and Documents	Ref KF9227.C2G47 2005
Encyclopedia of Gun Control and Gun Rights	Ref KF 3941.A68 2000
Encyclopedia of Law Enforcement	Ref HV7921.E53 2005
Encyclopedia of Mental Health	Ref RA790.5.E53 1998
Handbook of Juvenile Justice	Ref HV9104.E58 2003
Historical Dictionary of the European Union	Ref JN15.R75 2006
Immigration in America Today: An Encyclopedia	Ref JV6465.I4754 2006
Ramapo College Campus Crime Statistics	Online
The Rights of People with Mental Disabilities: The Authoritative ACLU Guide to the Rights of People with Mental Illness and Mental Retardation	Ref KF480.L48 1996
Uniform Crime Reports for the United States	Online
Useful series for your topics:
Contemporary World Issues Series	Ref H31. C76 (various call numbers)
Current Controversies Series	Ref H31.C97 (various call numbers)
Opposing Viewpoints Series	Ref H31.O62 (various call numbers)

Tips

1. Use reference books to browse for project ideas and to get started on your research.
2. Use the Bibliographies at the end of encyclopedia entries to find more information on your topic.

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IV. Electronic Resources

Some useful Databases for your projects:

    Tips

1. Switch to the Advanced Search page in a database. This will give you more control over your results.
2. Use Boolean Operators-AND, OR, NOT when running a search. For Example: gang and membership and (girl? or wom?n)
3. Always check your Spelling if the database results are Zero..

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V. Interlibrary Loan

Both of these links can be found under QUICK LINKS on the library's homepage.

• Interlibrary Loan: allows students to borrow a book or article that the Potter library does not own. There is a link from the Journal Finder page.

• Journal Finder: this provides information regarding if a journal is available full-text online, in print in the library, or available on microfilm.

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VI. Bibliographies

• Use Citing Sources for examples of "In-Text Citations" and "Works Cited"

• Use the Citing Websites and Print Sources to get call numbers for paper copies of syle manuals

• For help with writing a thesis: How-to-write-a-thesis

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VII. Web Sources

• Subject Resources

• Use Evaluating Websites to determine if the site is authoritative enough to use in your paper.

Some useful websites for your topics :

Dissertation Search: Search some self-published dissertations and download the first 25 pages for free

Bureau of Justice Statistics: Information and statistics on criminals, victims, prosecution, law enforcement, etc.

Wex: Death Penalty: from Wex, everyone's resource for law learning - LII / Legal Infomation Institute, Cornell University Law School

Europa: The EU at a Glance: Website of the European Union

Fact Sheet: Modernizing New Jersey's Civil Commitment Law (2005)

Gun Laws, Gun Control, and Gun Rights: from Jurist Legal Intelligence - University of Pittsburgh School of Law

United Nations: The official site for the United Nations.

Google Scholar: Search for scholarly information on Google.

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Need more help? Visit or call the Reference Desk: 201.684.7574

OR

Use QandA NJ.org, a 24/7 virtual chat service with a reference librarian.