Kean University Library
Information Literacy Program
Lesson Outline for Library Instruction
Course: Victims of Crime
Course Number: CJ 3450
Kean University Undergraduate Catalog Course Description:
“Studies victims of crime, their numbers and the characteristics associated
with particular types of violence in the family, such as child abuse, domestic
violence and elder abuse, as well as sexual assault, missing and murdered
children, and vehicular homicide. Theories, service delivery, and legislation
regarding victims’ rights will be analyzed.”
Typical Course Research Assignment:
Students must choose a topic relating to images of victims in the media.
The type of media will vary from semester to semester. In some semesters
the project will focus on newspapers, while in other semesters the project
will focus on television news, and so on. For one part of the required term
paper to be written, students will conduct original empirical research by
coding images of victims as they appear in the assigned type of media.
Students must include a scholarly literature review, consisting of 3 scholarly
books or journal articles, in the term paper. The scholarly sources should
provide information regarding the nature of victim images and their
consequences within the media, criminal justice system, or society.
Ultimately, the students will write a 6-8 page term paper with 3 sources
cited using APA style.
Prerequisites (Assumptions) for Students Attending the Library Instruction
Session:
It is assumed that most students in the class are third- or fourth-year students who
have completed the First Year Seminar (ID 1001) library orientation and tour, as
well as the Research and Technology (GE 2021, 2022, 2023, or 2024) library
module. It is also assumed that these students had the following course as a
prerequisite: Criminal Justice in America (CJ 2600).
Equipment and Materials:
Computers with Internet access in a dedicated computer lab; library handout;
examples of print psychology periodicals (scholarly/professional and popular).
Goals and Objectives for Library Instruction Session:
General goalsThe student:
1. Has knowledge of the physical layout, service points, and circulation
procedures of the library, i.e., library barcode and online book renewal
processes.
2. Has the ability to articulate his or her research topic of interest.
3. Has the basic skills needed to find course-related information in books from
the Reference and Main Collections.
4. Has the basic skills needed to find course-related information in
scholarly/professional journals.
5. Has developed the basic critical thinking skills needed to select the
information access tools, keywords, and information sources that are most
appropriate for the course-related information need.
Objectives(Cited in parentheses are the ACRL Information Literacy Competency
Standards, Performance Indicators, and Outcomes* that will be met upon
satisfaction of the objective.)
The student:
1. Is aware that individualized research assistance is available by telephone, email (Ask a Reference Librarian), and in person at the Reference Desk.
(Standard 2.2.c)
2. Knows how to formulate a research focus and refine the research focus if a
more specific and relevant focus is identified. (Standards 1.1.a; 1.1.b;
1.1.d;1.3.c; 1.4.a; 3.6.a)
3. Understands that subject encyclopedias and other Reference books often
provide helpful background information on course-related topics, as well as
ideas for relevant keywords and key concepts. (Standards 1.1.c; 1.1.d;
1.1.e)
4. Knows how to search the Kean Catalog by author, title, keyword, and subject
to determine the call numbers for library books that contain subject matter
addressing the information need. (Standards 1.1.c; 2.2.b).
5. Understands how to find books in the library by locating specific call numbers
within the appropriate library collection. (Standard 2.3.b)
6. Knows how to use the Periodicals list to find journal titles held by the library
in its electronic, print, or microform collections. (Standard 2.3.b)
7. Understands that journal articles on a particular subject or by a particular
author are accessed through periodical indexes in both print and electronic
formats.
a. Knows how to select a periodical index database in electronic format
appropriate to the course-related information need (i.e., Criminal
Justice Abstracts, Academic Search Premier, WilsonWeb OmniFile,
GenderWatch, EthnicNewsWatch, Lexis Nexis Academic, or ProQuest
Newspapers). (Standard 2.1.d)
b. Knows how to access the database, navigate within it, construct a
search strategy, and execute a basic search using appropriate
keywords, in order to retrieve citations, abstracts, and, in some cases,
full text for relevant articles. (Standards 2.2.b; 2.2.d; 2.2.e; 2.3.a)
c. Understands how to utilize the Periodicals list and Kean Catalog to
check for an article’s availability in print or microform format so that
the article may be retrieved even when it is not available in full-text
format through a database. (Standards 2.3.a; 2.3.b)
d. Recognizes the difference between scholarly journals (such as Journal
of Research in Crime and Delinquency) and professional magazines
(such as Corrections Today and FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin).
(Standards 1.2.d; 3.2.a)
e. Understands that scholarly and reputable information sources are
more readily accessible by searching in a library’s subscription
databases, than by searching in freely available Internet search
engines and directories (such as Google and Yahoo). (Standard 3.2.a)
f. Recognizes the difference between primary and secondary sources,
and identifies the value of each of these source types when doing
research. (Standard 2.2.e; 2.2.f)
g. Understands criteria to consider (authority, currency, objectivity,
accuracy, and coverage) when evaluating retrieved information
sources, and checks that the retrieved information sources are
relevant to the topic of interest. (Standards 1.2.d; 2.4.a; 3.2.a; 3.4.a;
3.4.g; 3.7.a)
8. Can identify and understands the importance of recording the pertinent parts
of a bibliographic record retrieved in the Kean Catalog and in periodical index
databases. (Standards 2.5.c; 2.5.d)
9. Understands that the concept of academic integrity requires that, when
information is used, the source of information must be cited in order to avoid
committing plagiarism.
a. Knows that sources must be cited whether the information is quoted,
paraphrased, or summarized. (Standards 3.1.c; 5.2.f)
b. Knows that APA citation style requires a brief citation in the text of the
paper as well as a complete bibliographic citation in the paper’s
References list. (Standard 5.3.a)
c. Understands that examples and explanations of APA style may be
found in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological
Association, which is shelved in the Reference Collection. (Standard
5.3.a)
* The ACRL standards satisfied by meeting the aforementioned objectives are available in
full at the following Website: American Library Association. Association of College and
Research Libraries (2003). Information Literacy Competency Standards for Higher
Education. Retrieved July 20, 2004 from the World Wide Web:
http://www.ala.org/acrl/ilcomstan.html
Lesson outline prepared by librarians Linda Cifelli and Caroline Geck, July 2004.
[Last revision 08/28/04 LC]