FAQ - Research Questions
How do I...?
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Find the APA Style handouts? Other Library
handouts?
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The APA handouts are available through the Library's Web
page under the Library Publications link.
The handouts are in PDF format so you need Adobe Acrobat software on your computer to view them.
There are 4 handouts:
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APA Style: Bibliographic
Format - A brief introduction to using the APA Style of bibliographic citation, with
examples. Includes how to cite in text of
paper and how to create your list of references for material in print format. This is the
college-approved format for all classes.
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APA Style: Electronic
Reference Formats - Instructions for how to cite Web sites, articles from the Library's
electronic databases, emails, etc.
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APA Style: Research
Paper Format - How to format your title page, headers, margins, page numbers, etc.
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For other library handouts, see the Help with Research
portion of the Library home page.
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Find books?
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Find
out where a book is shelved once I have the call number?
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If your call number says Stacks and begins with the
letters:
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A through H - the book would be on the upper level.
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J through Z - the book would be on the lower level.
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If the section is other than Stacks (Reference, Reference
Law, Periodicals, Special Collections, etc,) the book would be located on the upper level.
See floor plan of the upper and lower
levels for specifics.
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Find out how to
read a library call number?
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The Sealy Library is arranged according to the
LIbrary of Congress Classification System (LC).
Call numbers in the LC system consist of letters and
numbers . Letters begin the call number and reflect the subject matter of the
book.
For example: HV 8141 .S56 1993 is the call number for the book,
Above the Law by Jerome Skolnick, published in
1993. You would find it in the upper level Stacks (see previous question above). HV
6000 - 9000 is the general call number range for criminal justice.
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To find a book on the shelf, break the call
number into small parts:
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First, look for the HV section
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Then, look for 8141
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Then look for the
.S56
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Find
out if the Library owns a specific journal, magazine or newspaper?
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Use the
CUNY+ library catalog to see if John Jay or any
library in CUNY owns a specific periodical in paper copy or microform.
Use the Journal Title search feature on the gray taskbar at top of
screen.
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Also consult the library's
List of Full Text Electronic Journals to see if John Jay has electronic
access to the desired title.
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Find
out if the library has electronic access to the fulltext of a specific journal?
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Find magazine or journal articles on a topic?
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A useful resource to begin looking for magazine or
journal articles for most college assignments is the
Ebscohost
Academic Search Premier database which includes many fulltext articles from magazines and scholarly journals from all disciplines.
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All the library's research databases are listed under
Electronic Information Resources from the
library home page. If you know the name of the
database you wish to use, click on the appropriate letter in the alphabetical list. If you
are not sure which resource you want to use, select a subject and click the Go button for a
list of resources in that discipline.
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Find newspaper articles on a topic?
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The library has several databases which include fulltext
newspaper articles. Navigate to the Electronic
Information Resources link from the home page and select
Newspapers on the subject list. Click the Go
button.
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The most frequently used resource is
Lexis/Nexis Universe which contains hundreds of
U.S. and international papers fulltext. (click on Guided News Search).
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For articles in the New York Times from 1851 through
2003, use the
New
York Times Historical File which provides fulltext articles in image format.
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Find book reviews?
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Find dissertations or theses?
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The library subscribes to a database called
Dissertation Abstracts
now called ProQuest Dissertations and Theses. The database indexes
dissertations and theses from institutions in North America and Europe from 1861 to present.
Abstracts are included since 1980 and fulltext is available from 1997 to present.
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The library also subscribes to
Dissertations: Current Research @ the City University
of New York. This database provides access to all City University of New York
Graduate Center dissertations published in the Dissertation Abstracts
database. The full text is available electronically for those that
were published after 1996.
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To search for theses and dissertations
owned by the CUNY libraries (including John Jay), use the
CUNY+ library catalog. Perform a keyword search with the
desired search terms plus the word "thesis". For example: fingerprints and thesis
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To browse the
library shelves for theses written at John Jay,
go to the call number DL 2602 .J3i in the stacks on the lower level
or the same call number in the open stacks of Special Collections on the upper level.
Some older theses may be cataloged by their subject so check CUNY+ when looking for a specific
thesis. CUNY dissertations on criminal justice topics may also be browsed in the Special
Collections section on the upper level under the call number LD 3835 .A5.
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To browse Master's theses from various institutions, go
to the lower level Stacks area under the call number LD 1.
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Find law cases?
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State and federal law cases are available full text in
the Lexis/Nexis Universe database. Select
Legal Research from the menu on left. If you have
the name of or citation to a case, click on Get a Case
. If you wish to search for cases by topic, click either Federal Case Law or State Case Law
(then select a particular state to search).
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Find briefs of Supreme Court cases?
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There are several types of legal briefs. Most often
students need to prepare a student brief of a law case. For help in preparing student briefs,
see the library handout, How to Brief a
Case. This handout also provides call numbers of books on legal writing and research that
can assist you.
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Some law professors put samples of student briefs on
reserve in the library or to get a rough idea of what a student brief is like, see the book,
Briefs of Leading Cases in Corrections , which can be
found at the library's Reference Desk.
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The library generally does not collect briefs of law
cases. The library does however subscribe to the book set,
Landmark briefs and arguments of the Supreme Court of the United States: constitutional law
which can be found in the Reference Law section at KF 101.9 .K8. These are briefs that are
submitted to the court arguing a position on a case before the court. These are not student
briefs.
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Briefs are not included in the Lexis/Nexis Universe
database.
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How do I Print?
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Printers are available in the Reference Area on the 2nd floor and the
Reserve Room on the 1st floor. Current John Jay students may use the
printers by submitting their John Jay email id and password. Each
current student is given a $15 credit at the beginning of the semester
to use for printing. Costs are 5-cents/per page for black/white and 10-
cents/per page for color.
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Additional printers that require a copy card are available in the
Reference Area for library users that cannot use a John Jay email
account. Printing with these computers
costs ten cents per page and is done with a
copy card . Copy cards can be purchased at
dispensers on the upper (near the Reference Law section)
and lower (back of Reserve Room) levels. You need a one
dollar bill to purchase a card. You will receive the
card with eighty cents (8 copies) worth of copies (the
card costs twenty cents). Cards are reuseable
; money can be added to them at the dispensers. For every dollar added, you will receive one
dollar and twenty -five cents worth of copies.
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To print from library databases from off campus,
use the print function of your Web browser. For fulltext articles that are in PDF format, you
must have Adobe Acrobat Reader
software on your computer to view them. Acrobat Reader is available to download for
free. When you view a PDF document, the Acrobat toolbar will appear at the top of your
document. To print a PDF file, you must use the print icon in the Acrobat toolbar!!
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Display the full text
of an article?
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When using library
databases, your result list may have a link that indicates you can get the actual text of that
article. These links can vary in their language but can include: HTML full text, PDF
full text, Link to full text, Link to ScienceDirect, etc. If you see a FINDit!
button, use the button to locate other possible sources for either
electronic copy or paper copy at one of the CUNY libraries.
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For articles that do
not indicate they are full text, check the library's List of Full Text
Electronic Journals to see if full text is available in another library database, or check the
CUNY+ (make this a link) library catalog to see if the library owns that periodical in print.
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Submit my thesis to the
Sealy Library?
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John Jay Master's degree students must
submit two copies (at least one original) of their approved thesis to the Sealy Library (including
the completed advisor signature page) along with a receipt from the Bursar's Office for the binding
fee.
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For instructions on thesis preparation, see
the handout, The Master's Program Thesis Guidelines ,
available in the Office of Graduate Studies, Room 411T.
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How can I get help with my research or learn to use the library?
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