Kean University Library
Information Literacy Program
Lesson Outline for Library Instruction
Course: Women, Crime, and Justice
Course Number: CJ 3400
Kean University Undergraduate Catalog Course Description:
“Focuses on the situation of women within the world of crime, as offenders,
victims, and professionals, working in the criminal justice system. The
theoretical background will be mainly inspired by the works of North
American and European feminist criminologists. Students should attain a
fundamental basis as to how women work within, are treated by, and deal
with the criminal justice system.”
Typical Course Research Assignment:
Students will be conducting a case study dealing with the problems that
female criminal justice professionals face in this male-dominated field.
Students will interview two women who hold the same professional title in
the field of criminal justice. Students must include a scholarly literature
review, consisting of 3 scholarly books or journal articles, in the written case
study report. Ultimately, the students will write a 7-10 page case study
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, e-mail (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, or GenderWatch). (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]