PB1200: Information Resources in Public Justice
Syllabus and Overview of the Course
When & Where: Wednesdays 2:00-3:40 p.m., Reinbolt 004
Instructor: Margaret Sylvia
Email address: msylvia@stmarytx.edu
Office phone: 436-3441 x1320
Office hours: I’m generally in the Academic Library Monday-Friday 8-5 except for the lunch hour at noon. My office is in the technical services area which is not open to the public; ask for me at the circulation desk or the reference desk. I will hold open Wednesday afternoon hours from 1-2, 3:40-5 specifically for PB1200 students though you may also make an appointment to see me at other times.
General Course Goal: PB1200 is a required two credit course for public justice majors at St. Mary's which serves as an introduction to library and information research in public justice and related subjects.
Specific Course Objectives: By the end of the course students will be able to:
- Identify and be familiar with different kinds information that different research materials supply: scholarly journals, popular magazines, books, encyclopedias, dictionaries, dissertations, theses, legal cases, laws, regulations, statistical sources, indexes, abstracts, online databases, etc.
- Know the steps that library research entails: identifying an initial topic, narrowing or broadening the topic, finding background material, locating current research, etc.
- Understand and use various computer resources such as email, the Internet, and online research databases.
- Formulate and use appropriate searches for online and CD-ROM indexes and fulltext databases in order to locate information.
- Locate needed materials in the Academic Library as well as other libraries.
Classroom Policies:
- LATE WORK/ASSIGNMENTS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. Assignments not prepared by the due date will receive a grade of 0.
- Attendance is required. This class meets only once a week. Absence or tardiness results in a daily grade of zero. We will have classroom exercises during most class meetings that will result in an additional daily grade of zero for absences. Multiple unexcused absences will result in a technical failure.
- Due to time constraints, lectures will not cover all the materials in the readings and the readings do not contain all the information covered in the lectures. You are responsible for all information in the readings and that covered in lecture.
- Academic integrity is essential. Public Justice students share the use of the same government documents, journals, books, etc. with each other and with the other students at the university. I expect you to respect these materials and the needs of others. Theft or mutilation of library materials will result in a grade of F for the course. Plagiarism is also unacceptable will also result in a grade of F for the course. Additional academic discipline including expulsion from the university may also result from either offense.
Texts:
- Required: Criminal Justice Research in Libraries and on the Internet, 1997 (Nelson)
- Readings on Reserve: Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 1994 (APA)
- Electronic Styles: A Handbook for Citing Electronic Information, 1996 (Li)
- Criminal Justice Information: How to Find It, How to Use It, 1998 (Benamati)
Evaluation:
Semester grades are determined on the following basis:
- Mid-term exam: 20%
- Final examination: 30%
- Annotated bibliography: 30%
- Weekly assignments including class participation & attendance: 20%
Examinations cover readings, handouts, assignments, and lectures. The final exam is comprehensive.
PB1200 Class Schedule
- 8/26 Introduction to the class
- 9/2 Using and evaluating the Internet as a source of information
- Reading: Nelson Chapters 3-4
- Benamati Appendix (Reserve)
- Complete Idiot’s Guide to Netscape Chapter 3 (Reserve)
- Authoritative Guide to Web Search Engines Chapters 1-5 (Reserve)
- Exercises: (in MIC) Searching the Internet: General Search Engines vs. Gathered Resources
- 9/9 Academic Library, library research, & the research process
- Reading: Nelson p.vii-xxii, Chapters 1-2
- Academic Library handout
- Exercise: Finding Information in the Academic Library; Choosing a Research Topic
- 9/16 E-mail & discussion groups; APA format for online information
- Reading: Benamati Chapter 2 (Reserve)
- Electronic Styles Chapters 1 & 4 (Reserve)
- Exercise: Sending email & joining a discussion group
- 9/23 Books & the online catalog; Sources of basic information; APA format for books
- Reading: Nelson Chapters 5-6,11, Appendixes A-B
- Benamati Chapters 3-4 (Reserve);
- Electronic Styles Chapter 2 (Reserve)
- APA Manual p. 201-207 (Reserve)
- Using the online catalog (Dynix) handout
- Exercise: (in MIC) Using the Online Catalog
- 9/30 Statistics resources
- Reading: Nelson Chapter 10
- Statistics Resources handout
- Using Government Information Sources, Print and Electronic, Chapter 39 (Reserve)
- Exercise: (in MIC) Surfing the web for statistical resources
- 10/7 Government documents; APA format for documents; Review for Midterm (in MIC)
- Reading: Nelson Chapter 9, Appendix C
- Benamati Chapter 7 (Reserve)
- APA Manual p.207-211 (Reserve)
- Electronic Styles Chapter 5 parts 1 and 3 (Reserve)
- Introduction to United States Government Information Sources, Chapters 1-4 (Reserve)
- 10/14 Midterm Exam
- 10/21 Journals, indexes, and abstracts
- Reading: Nelson Chapters 7-8
- Exercise: Scholarly vs. popular journals
- 10/28 Automated indexes & other electronic data resources; APA format for journal articles
- Reading: Benamati Chapter 5 (Reserve);
- Electronic Styles Chapter 3 (Reserve)
- APA Manual p. 194-200 (Reserve)
- Exercise: (in MIC) Indexes & abstracts assignment; CJA assignment
- 11/4 Legal research
- Reading: Nelson Chapter 12
- Benamati Chapter 8 (Reserve)
- Introduction to United States Government Information Sources, Chapter 5 (Reserve)
- Exercise: (in MIC) Surfing the web for legal resources
- 11/11 Legal research; APA format for legal information
- Reading: Introduction to United States Government Information Sources, Chapters 7, 9 (Reserve)
- APA Manual p. 223-234 (Reserve)
- Electronic Styles Chapter 5 part 2 (Reserve)
- 11/18 Evaluating resources; International criminal justice resources
- Reading: Nelson Chapter 15
- Benamati Chapter 9 (Reserve)
- Exercise: Group research
- 11/25 Individual library research
- 12/2 Forensic science; Historical research; Problem-solving
- Reading: Nelson Chapters 13-14
- Exercise: Problem solving
- Annotated Bibliography due
- 12/9 Review for final exam
- 12/16 Final exam
Back to the Table of Contents for PB1200
This web site was created by Margaret Sylvia (msylvia@stmarytx.edu) to educate Public Justice students at St. Mary's University in the use of information resources.
Created August 1998. Last modified