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CRJ 200: Introduction to Criminal Justice

Research Guide for CRJ 200

Access Library Resources Online

Trying to access library resources online? Follow the instructions on the Online Access to Library Resources page to access library databases, articles, and ebooks, both on-campus and off-campus.

Mardigian Search (searches all the library's databases at once)

Advanced Search

Search FAQs

Check out the library's self-paced tutorial How do I search library databases? to learn the basics of database searches.

1. What is Mardigian Search and why should I use it?

  • Mardigian Search is the library's Discovery search box, which looks through all of the library's databases at once.
  • Mardigian Search is great for:
    • finding out what's been studied in your research area
    • finding sources about interdisciplinary topics

2. How do I search for sources about my research topic or question?

  • Identify the keywords of your thesis statement and use those as your search words
  • Each article has tags assigned to it, words or shorts phrases that make them searchable - you want your search words to match those tags
  • Words like causes, effects, issues, outcomes, relationships are usually not used as tags - don't include them as search words

3. I'm looking for a specific article or book. How do I find out if the library has it?

  • Enter the title into the search box, removing all punctuation

4. How do I focus my search hits to articles from peer-reviewed journals?

In the Refine Your Search sidebar: 

  • Check Peer Reviewed
  • Check Journal Article under the Content Type heading

5. I have too many search hits. How do I focus my search hits so that they're more relevant?

  • Check  Law  and Sociology under Discipline to focus search hits to those relevant to criminal justice
  • Click on Quick Look under the article title when you find an article that looks interesting
    • Look at its assigned Subjects (tags) 
    • Add any relevant subjects to your search
    • This will also help you develop your research topics and search for books and articles about them

6​. How do I preview the abstract/summary of articles in the list of search hits?

  • Click on Quick Look below the article title to look at the abstract of the article

7. How do I access the article so I can read the whole thing?

  • Click on Full Text Online
  • Look for pdf Full Text or HTML Full Text links

8. How do I use the search results to focus to my research topic?

  • Look at the list of Subjects under Refine Your Search and see what interests you
    • Check the boxes beside the subjects that you're interested in 
  • When you see articles that look interesting, look at their tags and add those to your search

9. I can't find anything about my topic. What do I do?

  • The search words you're using to describe your topic may not match the tags that have been assigned to books and articles on that topic
    • Look through the Subjects listed in the Refine Your Search sidebar and check the boxes beside the topic areas that interest you
  • When you find an article that looks interesting, look at its assigned Subjects (tags) 
    • Add any relevant subjects/tags to your search
    • This will also help you develop your research questions and search for articles about your specific research questions 
  • There may not be research tying your main ideas together yet
    • Try searching for your main ideas separately and linking their findings together
  • If you've found one article that's relevant for your topic, look through the sources in its References list to see if any of them are also relevant to your research
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