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NEWTON GRESHAM LIBRARY
ASSIGNMENT GUIDE
DR. MAHONEY POL338 - FALL 2003
In order to successfully complete your assignment for this course, we
encourage you to use a variety of resources. The resources you use might
include books, journals, databases, and Websites. Your Library fees have
enabled the Library to purchase and subscribe to a number of resources.
This guide will provide you with a starting point and suggest resources.
Your assignment is a policy analysis project. As you know,
the project includes a number of components. Get a good understanding
of what a public policy is. Take a look at your lecture notes and your
textbook. Then, if you want clarification or a different way of looking
at it, try one or more of the print resources listed below:
Bealey, Frank. The Blackwell Dictionary of Political Science: a Users'
Guide to its Terms. 1999. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers. Located in Reference,
the call number is JA61 .B43 1999.
Utter, Glenn H. American Political Scientists: a Dictionary. Westport,
Conn.: Greenwood Press. 2002. Located in Reference, the call number
is JA61 .A525 2002.
Notice that the first part of the call numbers are the same. If you browse
through the books with that call number, you will find additional print
resources. Or, use the Library's online catalog to look up additional
titles. To access the streaming video Virtual Instruction Series unit
on using the on-line catalog, click
here.
| Getting Started: |
Which victim population are you
interested in? |
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Are you interested in National
or state policy? |
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In which aspect of victims' rights are you interested?
At the pre-trial level? After trial? In the immediate aftermath
of victimization? Psychological aspects? |
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Do you know of a specific policy
related to the above? |
You should address the following points in your papers.
| Identify clearly the policy you are going to examine. If it is
a piece of legislation, does it have a popular name as well as the
code? |
| Why was the policy created? Was there an incident that precipitated
it? What was the perceived need? |
| How was the policy created? Was it legislation, was it an internal
agency policy? |
| What is the policy supposed to accomplish? |
| Who is the policy supposed to help? |
| Who, or what group(s) opposed the policy and why? What were their
arguments? |
| Who, or what group(s) supported the policy and why? What were
their arguments? |
| Who were the actors involved in the policy's creation |
| When was the policy created and when did it go into effect? |
| Has the policy done what it is supposed to have done? |
| Who administers the policy? |
| What data does the administering agent collect and disseminate?
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| What criteria would you use to evaluate the policy's effectiveness? |
| Do the administrators provide you with the information you need
to evaluate the effectiveness of the policy? |
| Are the intended beneficiaries satisfied with the results? |
| What is your overall impression of the policy? |
 You
can locate books using the Library's on-line catalog. Remember that
you can search the catalog by entering your topic or you can do a search
using topic and policy as keywords. There are a number of keywords you
can use in doing your search in the on-line catalog. The most general
is victims. More specific
types of victimization should also be used as search terms: victims
of crime, victims of family violence,
victims of terrorism, sexual
abuse victims, adult child abuse victims,
children of murder victims, victims
of crime--services for, etc.
Although there are many books dedicated to specific forms
of victimization and victims, a few use a more general approach.
Glenn, Leigh. Victims' Rights: a Reference Handbook.
1997. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. Located in Reference, the call
number is K9763 .J58 1997.
Kilpatrick, Dean G. The rights of crime victims :
does legal protection make a difference? 1998. Washington, DC:
U.S. Dept. of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute
of Justice. The call number for this government document is J28.24:V
66/5
New Directions from the Field: Victims' Rights and
Services for the 21st Century. 1998. Washington, D.C. : U.S. Dept.
of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office for Victims of Crime.
This government document's call number is J34.2:D 62
Woods, Timothy O. First response to victims of crime: a handbook
for law enforcement officers on how to approach and help elderly victims,
victims of sexual assault, child victims, victims of domestic violence,
survivors of homicide victims. 2000. Washington, DC: U.S. Dept.
of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Office for Victims of Crime.
This government document is located on the Library's 1st floor with
the call number J34.8:V 66.
 There
are also a number of databases that you will find useful. Databases provide
a wide variety of information. Some contain citations and/or full text
of articles, others contain information about a topic, and still others
include statistical data. All of these will be useful as you work to complete
this assignment. Below is a selected list. If you want to go to that database,
click on the link.
Academic
Search Premier - provides full text for over 1,260 academic, social
sciences, humanities, general science, education and multi-cultural
journals. In addition to the full text, this database offers indexing
and abstracts for over 2,880 journals.
Criminal
Justice (CJ) Abstracts - Index with abstracts of the major journals,
books, and reports in criminology and related disciplines.
Lexis-Nexis
Academic - Provides access to full-text articles from hundreds of
newspapers, journals and magazines, and financial information for companies,
including: SEC Reports, Standard & Poor's Corporate Descriptions,
Disclosure Reports, NAARS -Annual Reports 84-95 and more.
Lexis-Nexis
Congressional - Federal legislative research database that provides
a searchable electronic version of the CIS/Index for legislative research
from 1970 forward and the full-text of publications from the U.S. Congress,
current Code of Federal Regulations and the current U.S. Code.
Newspaper
Source -Provides full text for 139 regional U.S. newspapers, eighteen
international newspapers, six newswires, and nine newspaper columns,
The Christian Science Monitor and The Los Angeles Times, for a total
of 174 full text newspapers and other sources.
PAIS
(Public Affairs Information Service) - Includes articles, books, conference
proceedings, government documents, book chapters, and statistical directories
about public affairs.
Polling
the nation - is a compilation of more than 14,000 surveys conducted
by more than 700 polling organizations in the United States and more
than 80 other countries
Sociological
Abstracts - provides access to the world's literature in sociology
and related disciplines, both theoretical and applied.
Sociological
Collection - comprehensive database with nearly 560 full text titles.
This database provides information on all areas of sociology, including
social behavior, human tendencies, interaction, relationships, community
development, culture and social structure.
 In addition to
the databases listed above, there are a number of reputable Websites that
may be useful to you. There are a large number of organizations related
to victims, victimization, and victim assistance. Only one is listed below,
not because it is the only reputable one, but because the scope is so
broad.
http://thomas.loc.gov/ Provides
access to National legislative information, including bills, roll call
votes, the Congressional Record, etc.
http://www.firstgov.gov/ is the
official U.S. gateway to all government information. It includes links
to all departments and agencies within the government as well as the
three branches.
http://www.ncvc.org/ The National
Center for Victims of Crime. Privately funded organization. The National
Center for Victims of Crime is the nation’s leading resource and
advocacy organization for crime victims. Since 1985, we have worked
with more than 10,000 grassroots organizations and criminal justice
agencies serving millions of crime victims.
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/
Office for Victims of Crime, U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice
Programs.
As you use these research tools to gather the information you need, remember
that librarians and library staff are available to answer your questions
during the hours the library is open. The telephone number at the Reference
Desk is 936-294-1599. If you'd prefer to contact us by e-mail, click on
Ask a Librarian on the Library's Homepage. You are also welcome to call
me, Linda Meyer, at 936-294-3551 or reach me by e-mail at lib_lsm@shsu.edu
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