Pathfinder: Correctional Facilities Library Resources
This guide is designed to help locate information about correctional facilities library
resources. Though it is intended specifically to aid library and information science
students interested in studying correctional facility librarianship, any member of the
general public interested in the topic could find this guide useful. This guide instructs
users on how to develop search strategies for finding both print and electronic resources.
The term correctional facilities is used because though the focus is prison libraries, the
strategies discussed will also be useful in locating resources for jails and juvenile
detention centers.
Background Information: Reference and General Resources
To get some background information on correctional facility libraries, you may find it
useful to use a general reference tool. It is necessary to think broadly when looking for
these kinds of sources. Correctional Facilities Libraries, for example, falls under the
category of special libraries and under the even larger category of library and information
science. Encyclopedias, guides, and textbooks focusing on library and information
science or special libraries, then, may contain good foundational information about prison
and jail libraries.
To search for these materials, you may find it useful to use Library of Congress Subject
Headings (LCSH). LCSH are a controlled set of vocabulary that determines how
materials will be catalogued in the on-line catalog. You may search for keywords instead
of subjects, but because searching for keywords pulls entries in which the searched term
appears anywhere in the record, you will often get an overwhelming amount of results.
And these results may not be as relevant.
When searching in Illinet Online or WorldCat, the following LCSH may be useful in
finding general resources:
Library and Information Science—Encyclopedias
Special Libraries—Encyclopedias
Here are two examples and locations from the UIUC libraries. Though the call numbers
are specifically for UIUC libraries, you can use the call numbers in your own public
library to find the general section in which similar books will be shelved:
Mount, Ellis, Editor. Special Libraries and Information Centers: An Introductory Text.
Washington, D.C: Special Libraries Association, 1999.
UIUC Library and Information Science Stacks
02535276M863s 1999
Wedgeworth, Robert, editor. World Encyclopedia of Library and Information Services.
Chicago: ALA, 1993.
UIUC Library and Information Science Stacks
Q.020.3AL111993
Books
To find books that that examine and discuss prison librarianship in your library’s on-line
catalog, you can search either using subject heading or keywords. Again, you may find it
most useful to search using LCSH.
The following LCSH will be useful to you in your search of Illinet Online or WorldCat:
Prison libraries
Prison Libraries—United States
Prison Libraries—Case Studies
Prisoners—Books and Reading
Some examples and locations from UIUC libraries are:
Coyle, William J. Libraries in Prisons: A Blending of Institutions. New York:
Greenwood Press, 1987.
UIUC Library and Information Science Stacks
027.665C839l
Rubin, Rhea Joyce and Daniel S. Suvak, eds. Libraries Inside: A Practical Guide for
Prison Librarians. Jefferson, NC: McFarland Publishers, 1995.
UIUC Library and Information Science Stacks
027.6650973L616
Vogel, Brenda. Down for the Count: A Prison Library Handbook. Metuchen, NJ: The
Scarecrow Press, Inc, 1995.
UIUC Library and Information Science Stacks
027.6650973V862d
***It may be necessary to find materials particular to a certain state, and you can search
for information about correctional facilities libraries in that state. If you are looking for
information, for example, about standards for prison libraries in Washington state, you
can search using the following LCSH:
Prison Libraries—Standards—Washington (State).
Sometimes the state is listed second and the specific topic is listed third in the sequence,
as with the following example about prison librarianship planning in Colorado:
Prison Libraries—Colorado—Planning
Guides and Directories
Searching for directories and guides is similar to searching for books. If you are
interested in directories and handbooks of prison libraries in the United States, for
example, you can use the following search terms to help you locate them.
Prison Libraries—United States—Directories
Prison Libraries—United States—Handbooks, Manuals, Etc
You should be aware that there are many guides and directories that were published in
the first half of the 1900s. Unless you are doing an historical analysis, these may not be
useful to you. If you want only current guides, you can limit your search to items
published after, for example, 1990. In the case of a directory, you will probably want the
most recent.
The following are some examples from UIUC libraries. Again, even if you are not at
UIUC, you can use the call number to locate similar items in your own library.
Standing committee on law Library Service to Institution Residents. Correctional
Facility Law Libraries: An A to Z Resource Guide. Laurel, MD: American Correctional
Association, 1992.
UIUC Library and Information Science Library
026.3400973
Baylay, Linda, Leni Greenfield, and Flynn Nogueira. Jail Library Service: A Guide for
Librarians and Jail Administrators. Chicago: American Library Association, 1981.
UIUC Library and Information Science Library
027.6650973
Law Libraries in Prisons and Jails
If you are particularly interested in law libraries in jails and prisons, you may need to do
some additional searching in addition to the suggestions above. There are several LCSH
that may be useful to you, including:
Legal assistance to prisoners -- United States -- Directories.
Legal assistance to prisoners -- United States -- Handbooks, manuals, etc
Directory: law libraries offering services to prisoners. Chicago: American Association of
Law Libraries, 1993.
UIUC Law Reference
Z675.P8 D571993
Periodicals
There are several professional library and correctional journals that contain articles about
librarianship in correctional facilities. Because of the multiple roles that correctional
facilities libraries play, these articles can be found in journals that focus on academic
libraries, public libraries, adult services, interlibrary loan, young adult services, special
libraries, and library administration, and correctional facility administration. In addition,
articles can be found in wide range of social science journals and public interest
periodicals. There are many databases that index these journals.
The following is a short list of databases in which articles about correctional facilities
libraries can be found:
Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA)
Library Literature and Information Science
InfoTrac (Expanded Academic Index):
Alternative Press Index
Each database uses a different controlled vocabulary. The subject search terms “prison
libraries,” “corrections and libraries,” and “jails and libraries,” are all good terms with
which to start. Once you find an article that is of particular interest to you, you can look
at the subject terms assigned to the article and revise your search if there are different
terms.
Web Resources
The majority of quality resources will be found in print. There is some good information,
however, available on the Internet. The search strategies used to search the Internet is not
unlike the strategies used to search for articles.
Search Engines
Use the search terms “prison libraries,” “correctional facility libraries,” or “jail libraries.”
If you know the name of a particular correctional facility library, you can search for that
library by putting its name in quotations.
Another search strategy for locating websites about prison or jail libraries is to search for
the homepages of individual states. Often, the state corrections department has a link
from this page and there may be information about the state prison library system or the
regulations governing the establishment and administration of their state prison libraries.
Two good search engines with which to start are:
Google
http://www.google.com
Northern Light
http://www.northernlight.com
You may also find information using :
Yahoo
http://www.yahoo.com
AltaVista
http://www.altavista.com
Websites
The following websites provide are particularly good resources for exploring issues
surrounding correctional facilities librarianship.
“Tim Hayson Final Project”
http://www.slis.ualberta.ca/cap99/hayson/index.htm This is the final project of University
of Alberta student Tim Hayson. In this project he reviews and comments on secondary
literature about prison libraries. Also, most importantly, he includes a bibliography of
sources on the topic.
“Jail Library Student Group”
http://soo.studentorg.wixc.edu/jailbooks/library_lit.htm
This is the site of the Jail Library Student Group, a student organization at the University
of Wisconsin at Madison. In addition to discussing their own work in two of the
correctional facilities in Madison, they provide several lists of resources on libraries in
jails and prisons. The have a bibliography of government sources, books, articles, and
other media sources.
“Prison Librarianship Clearinghouse”
http://www.seorf.ohiou.edu/~xxl132
This site is titled, The Prison Librarianship Clearinghouse. It contains links to several
sites that would interest those researching or in the field of prison librarianship. These
links include Library Services to Prisoners Forum, the Association of Specialized and
Cooperative Library Agencies (ASCLA), and the Prison Libraries Group.
“The Corrections Professional”
http://www.corrections.com/lrp2/
Brenda Vogel, who has written a lot about prison and jail librarianship, is on the board of
editors for this on-line publication. Though not exclusively about prison librarianship,
this publication focuses on the whole field of corrections as a profession. There are also
links to corrections.com which has a searchable database.