SFU Library: Resources and Research – Criminology Honours Presented by Yolanda Koscielski, Liaison Librarian, Criminology & Psychology

Outline 1. The Literature Search 2. Where to Search 3. Information Sources 4. Working your Topic

1. The Literature Search “ A systematic and thorough search of all types of published literature in order to identify as many items as possible that are relevant to a particular topic” (Ridley, 2008). Systematic = documented, planned, mindful Thorough = considered scope of research (broader, narrower and related concepts), inclusive of possibly contradictory data All types of info = range of databases, books, government documents, statistics, theses, etc.

The Literature Search 1.To identify the field and specific context in which your work is situated. 2.It can assist you in identifying your approach to the research and the methodology you wish to adopt. 3.It will help you identify the type of data you might collect and use, sites of data collection, the sample size, and how you might analyze this data.

The Literature Search 4.A means of extending your understanding of the key concepts, theories, and methodologies in your field. 5.To find out what others have done in the area so as to avoid duplicating previous work. 6.Identify key people, organizations, and texts which are relevant to your research.

2. Where to Search SFU Library: beyond books 1.35 million books 400,000 ebooks 63,000 ejournals 500 database subscriptions GIS + Maps, images, streaming music + movies, video games, etc. Research data library with specialized datasets Notable Resources: Subject Research Guides, Publication Type Research Guides, Databases by Subject Area

Where to Search…? Library Search Catalogue Databases Fast Search Google

Where to Search Most? Least?

SFU Library’s matryoshka dolls aussiegall. (2006). Russian dolls. Retrieved from Library Search Catalogue Fast Search

The Catalogue Strengths: Book searching, including book searching by subject headings Good for: do we have it? Contains records on all books and other individual items (movies, maps, journal titles, database titles, government reports, law reports, etc.) Weaknesses: no journal article or newspaper article information; less aesthetically pleasing DEMO: 3 fields to note, typical book record, icons, Freedom of information—Canada subject heading Demo: Access in the Academy

Fast Search  Strengths  Broad search can capture unique terms/proper names across 100,000s of sources  Tool for beginning research outside your discipline  Easy export to citation managers  Search multiple libraries option  Search for books and articles at the same time

Fast Search  Weaknesses:  Subject terms not useful for systematic literature review  Missing journal content; coverage is maybe 95% of SFU Library content  Not mapped to a specific discipline, with associated beneficial search limiters and features (controlled vocabularies, populations, etc.)  Lots of citation “noise”  Peer-review limit facet not completely accurate (as with most databases)

FastSearch Subject Terms ≠ Subject Headings

Library Search Criminology All catalogue content + Fast Search + PLUS the library’s website (FAQS, Research Guides, Summit, etc.) Library Search

 Searches 100% of Fast Search content, plus catalogue, for the broadest library search available  Strengths:  Divides Fast Search content by info type (books & media, newspaper articles, journal articles)  One click  Quick way to access library-authored and library-curated content, such as  Summit (SFU’s Institutional Repository)  Library FAQs  Library Research Guides  Weaknesses:  Not robust at all for topical and advanced info searching  Best for known items

Google Strengths Allows you to cast a wide net in your search. As of November 2014, about 1 million to 1.6 million records are searched in Google Scholar The most popular articles are revealed A high volume of articles are retrieved Google's algorithm helps compensate for poorly designed searches Full-text indexing of articles is now being done in Google Scholar US Case Law

Google Strengths A search feature allow you to search within articles citing your key article Excellent for known-item searching and locating a quote/citation Helpful when searching for very unique terminology (e.g., places and people) Times cited tool can help identify relevant articles Extensive searching of non-article, but academic, information items: universities' institutional repositories, US case law, grey literature, academic websites, etc. Books – out of copyright

Google Weaknesses Database is not mapped to a specific discipline Much less search sophistication and manipulation supported (analogy: automatic vs. standard car) Psuedo-Boolean operators Missing deep data (e.g., statistics) Mysterious algorithms and unknown source coverage at odds with the systematic and transparent mandate of a literature review. Searches are optomized (for example, by your location), thwarting the replicability criteria of most literature review types

Google Weaknesses Low level of subject and author collocation - that is, bringing together all works by one author or one sub-topic Challenging to run searches that involve common words (e.g., art + time) New articles might not be pushed up if the popularity of an article is emphasized Indexes articles from predatory publishers, which may be hard to identify if working outside of your fieldpredatory publishers Articles are not usually free – just the indexing

Subject-Specific Databases  Examples: PsycINFO, Criminal Justice Abstracts, Sociologial Abstracts, Westlaw Next Canada  Strengths  Mapped to a disciplinary perspective  High quality metadata  Search limiters unique to discipline, allow fine-tuning of search results  Search history and search sets  Subject headings that are key to a lit review  Weaknesses:  More time-consuming to use  More particular / technical to search (varies)

Information Sources The usual suspects for Crim articles:  Criminology databases:  Criminal Justice Abstracts, National Criminal Justice Reference Service  Other discipline-based databases:  PsycINFO, Sociological Abstracts  General databases:  Academic Search Premier, Web of Science The above are great for journal articles.

Information Sources  PC Census or Simply Map  Canadian Public Policy Collection  PsycTESTS  Sage Research Methods Online  Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR)  Encyclopedia DEMO: Try finding a Criminology Encyclopedia via the library website. Bonus points for finding a really specific encyclopedia.

Information Sources Encyclopedias Overview of your topic / the “ big picture ” Particularly helpful if working outside your area Written with the academic in mind, often by specialists in the field Use the bibliography to identify key articles, studies, authors, etc. Gale Virtual Reference Library (multiple subject areas) Sage eReference Library ( about 15 Crim titles) Check research guides, Online Reference Sources web page

Information Sources Oxford Bibliographies Online -Subject module for Criminology -Written and peer-reviewed by international experts “Crime Victims' Rights Movement” “Routine Activity Theories” Provides: Key Readings Ideas for keywords for searching

4. Working Your Topic  Do you have a subject area, topic, or thesis?  Subject is very broad: freedom of information, Charter of Rights and mental illness  Topic adds a second concept, explores a relationship or question between the two concepts: testosterone levels in sex offenders, effect of art therapy on recidivism  Thesis: you are making an assertion and providing supportive evidence: Art therapy decreases recidivism in young offenders

Working Your Topic Next, think of synonyms, plus broader, narrower and related terms for each of your concepts: What is the impact of art therapy on recidivism in young offenders? Art therapyRecidivismYoung offenders Music therapy (RT) Dance therapy (RT) Graffiti club (NT) Repeat offender (synonym) Early adolescent offenders (NT) Juvenile Delinquents (synonym) Criminals (BT)

Working your topic  Test your keywords out in the database: find the best keywords and subject headings for your searches.  Subject headings: a systematic, hierarchical, and finite language used for describing subjects/concepts.  Articles and books will usually have 3-8 subject headings assigned to their bibliographic record. These are provided by real people (as opposed to their robot counterparts).

Working Your Topic Subject Headings Subject heading languages will usually be unique to each database, e.g., MESH (Medical Subject Headings) of PubMed, PsycINFO thesaurus for PsycINFO Demo: our 3 concepts in PsycINFO Can start with thesaurus directly or keyword search Sometimes keywords = subject headings

Art therapy AND recidivism AND young offenders Art therapy AND criminals, or Criminals AND recidivism Art therapy (a broad “subject”) + something else

Working your Topic Boolean operators AND and OR used to join keywords in database searching (often automatic in search forms) Use AND to narrow or focus the search (using key words/terms) Example: creative arts therapy AND criminals Use OR to expand your search results (using related words/concepts) Example: music therapy OR art therapy OR dance therapy Creative arts therapy Criminals Criminals AND creative arts therapy Music therapy Dance therapy Art therapy

Working Your Topic Use quotation marks to search for an exact phrase Example: “art therapy” Use truncation (*) to search for related words Truncation. This expands a search term to include all forms of a root word Example: technolog* will search for technology, technologies, technological, etc.

Submit your Honours Thesis You are welcome to submit your Honours Thesis to Summit, SFU Library’s Institutional Repository Criminology grad theses & dissertations