Encyclopedias and Background Sources
Why use background or tertiary resources?
- Learn important terms, notable scholars or works, and more information about a topic.
- Bibliographies, further reading, and works cited sections can lead you to secondary sources you can use in your research.
- It's a quick overview of a theme, work, author, or other topic, which can save you time!
- The Oxford Encyclopedia of Crime, Media, and Popular Culture.New York: Oxford University Press, [2018].
Among other topics, articles in this title cover the roots and the social and personal consequences of mass incarceration. - Oxford Bibliographies: CriminologyArticles and recommended books on prisons, crime, incarceration, and more. "[P]eer-reviewed annotated bibliographies on the study of crime as a social phenomenon." -- Catalog description
- International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences.2nd edition
Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2015.
4,000+ scholarly articles on the full range of topics in the social sciences.
Other Resources for Getting Background on Topics
- Lucy Parsons Labs
Collaborative community project interested in data rights and social justice. - Electronic Frontier Foundation
Non-profit interested in protecting digital privacy, and examining technology. - Center for Democracy and Technology
Non-profit interested in policy and infrastructure related to technology and its access. - MediaJustice
Non-profit interested in equitable access to technology, and media.
Secondary Resources - Books, Journals in the Library Catalog
To find books, search the Cornell Library Catalog.
This database has records for all of our books, journals, magazines, newspapers, videotapes, audiotapes, music CDs, CD-ROMs, DVDs, manuscripts, microfilm, microfiche--in short, anything the Library owns. You can search by keyword (any word in the catalog record), author, title, subject heading, call number, or journal title.
Two things to remember about our catalog:
* The online catalog lists the holdings of all Cornell libraries in one place.
* You cannot find journal articles in this catalog. Only the titles of journals, magazines, and newspapers are listed along with the years and volumes that we own. Use Databases to find individual articles.
Understanding Library of Congress Call Numbers
Secondary Resources - Databases for Journal Articles
- JSTOR
Journal articles. Most items are older than five years. - Project Muse
Journal articles. Most items are recent publications (less than five years old). - Socology Source UltimateCoverage of peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, international resources and open access titles in the social sciences.
- Academic Search PremierMulti-disciplinary database with journal articles from 1975 to present.
- ProQuest Research LibraryMulti-disciplinary database that includes magazine and journal articles.
Secondary Resources - Databases for News Articles
- ProQuest Digitized Newspapers
Cover-to-cover access to recent newspaper content. 2008 to recent (3 month embargo). - Nexis UniNewspapers, journals, company reports and SEC filings, government documents, and more.
Library Catalog Searching - Subject Headings
- Prisons: Subject Heading BrowseSee all the subject headings under the Prisons umbrella, and offers some related terms.
- "Imprisonment > Social aspects > United States."Searches the catalog for all materials that are catalogued with this subject heading.
- Electronic Surveillance: Subject Heading BrowseSee all the subject headings under the Electronic Surveillance umbrella.
- "Technology > Social aspects."Searches the catalog for all materials that are catalogued with this subject heading.
- "Information technology > Social aspects"Searches the catalog for all materials that are catalogued with this subject heading.
Other Helpful Guides
- The New Jim CrowGuide on the Prison Industrial Complex
- Big Ideas: Critical Theory in Everyday LifeCourse guide on incarceration
Helpful Handouts and Links
- Bookmark PasskeyBookmark link that reloads a page with your Cornell credentials, when available.
- Scan RequestsRequest a scan of an article or chapter of book. This can be of items Cornell owns, or items that we do not own!
Research Help
Reference Librarian
Land Acknowledgement
Cornell University is located on the traditional homelands of the Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' (the Cayuga Nation). The Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' are members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, an alliance of six sovereign Nations with a historic and contemporary presence on this land. The Confederacy precedes the establishment of Cornell University, New York state, and the United States of America. We acknowledge the painful history of Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' dispossession, and honor the ongoing connection of Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' people, past and present, to these lands and waters.
This land acknowledgment has been reviewed and approved by the traditional Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' leadership.