OBJECTIVE: To find a minimum of three original research studies that support your judicial opinion.

I. The library web site http://www.lib.uci.edu answers practical questions such as:

• When is the building open?
• What are the hours of the Langson Library Reference and Government Information Desk?
• Where do I access course reserves?
• Borrow books?
• Chat with a librarian online?
• How can I connect to library databases by from home?
• There are also general subject guides to help you get started in a particular discipline. See the subject guide for Criminology, Law & Society for additional resources to supplement this course guide.

II. This presentation will help you get started with:

• The California Digital Library and Searchlight
• PsycINFO
• Sociological Abstracts
• Lexis-Nexis Academic

IV. Self-help: Library research tutorials

California Digital Library (CDL)

Melvyl Catalog: Books, videos and government documents in UC libraries. For items you want that are not at UCI, use Request to order them through Interlibrary Loan.
Periodical Titles: Journal titles in all libraries in California.
Article Databases: The databases listed in this pull-down menu are only those that are in all UC libraries. Keep in mind that UCI subscribes to additional databases. From the library homepage see article databases for an alphabetical listing.
Searchlight: Meta-search engine covering UCI- and CDL-licensed resources. Useful if you don't know where to search for your particular topic.

PsycINFO
What is it? Indexes and abstracts international literature in psychology and related disciplines. Sources include over 1,400 professional journals, chapters, books, reports, theses and dissertations.
Why use it? Use this database to find articles on all aspects of psychology and social behavior.

PSYCINFO SEARCH TIPS:

• Search by keyword (words anywhere), and then refine your search using descriptors
• Limit to Journal Articles Only (this omits books, book chapters, & dissertations)
• Use Advanced Search for more search options: Including Publication Type = empirical study or Publication Type = literature review. (Remember: literature reviews can be excellent sources of locating original research studies.)
• Use UC e-Links to determine if UCI has either a print or online subscription to the journal containing the article you need OR use ANTPAC to look up journal titles (includes links to electronic journals). If UCI does not have journal you need, you can use Request through UC e-Links.

SEARCH EXAMPLE:
ANYWHERE: diminished capacity AND law
PUBLICATION TYPE: empirical study

Sociological Abstracts
What is it?: Indexes and abstracts international literature in sociology and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. Journal articles, book reviews, abstracts of books, book chapters, dissertations, and conference papers.
Why use it?: Use this database to find articles on social organization & social relations. Very strong in criminology.

SOCIOLOGICAL ABSTRACTS SEARCH TIPS:

• Search by keyword (words anywhere), and then refine your search using descriptors
• Limit to Journal Articles Only (this omits books, book reviews, book chapters, conference papers, & dissertations)
• Use Advanced Search for more search options. Sociological Abstracts does not indicate whether an article is an empirical study, so you will need to judge that yourself, looking for the following:
• Description of the study elements -- characteristics of population, number of participants, data source
• Methodology: survey? observation? interviews?
• Use UC e-Links to determine if UCI has either a print or online subscription to the journal containing the article you need OR use ANTPAC to look up journal titles (includes links to electronic journals)

 

 

SEARCH EXAMPLE:
ANYWHERE: death penalty

Look at the descriptors for one of the relevant records. Notice that this database does not use the term "death penalty" as a descriptor. Try using the term "capital punishment" and see if this changes the number or quality of records you retrieve in your search.

Lexis-Nexis Academic: Legal, news and business research. The legal research section includes hundreds of full-text law review journals, state and federal codes (statutes & regulations), state and federal case law (high courts only), legal newspapers and newsletters, and more. For this class, you might find the legal news and law review searches useful for locating citations to research studies.

Tips on searching for law review articles:
Law reviews can be 40-50 pages in length (noted by word count in Lexis-Nexis) -- and you are searching the full-text, not abstracts, subject terms or descriptors:

• Choose unique keywords (names of parties in cases, statutes, e.g.) and search in "At Least 3."
• The default date is "previous six months" -- you can change this.
• ! is a place holder for missing letters. So constitution! will also pick up constitutional or constitutionality
• Results are automatically sorted by title -- change this to sort by relevance.
• If the title is not enough to go on, choose the Expanded List tab to see your search word/s in context. This will allow you to browse your results with more information
• You can reformat the article to print (in the library, printing is $0.12/page with a print card) or e-mail the article to yourself

You have many options for getting research assistance from the UCI Libraries. You can:

• Call or visit the Reference & Government Information Desk at the Langson Library: (949) 824-4976. During certain weeks of the quarter, you can sign-up for a 30 minute research consultation appointment.
• Use Ask a Librarian EMAIL or LIVE
• Follow up with Judy Ruttenberg directly (contact info above)

The UC Irvine Libraries Tutorial provides self-paced help with:

• Beginning your research
• Creating a search strategy
• Finding books using the libraries' online catalog ANTPAC
• Finding articles in databases
• Finding government information
• Finding websites
• Evaluating searches
• Citing your sources (avoiding plagiarism!)