1. CJ 3901 Transnational
Crime
Traci Welch Moritz
Public Services
Librarian/Assistant Professor
Heterick Memorial Library

2. What we will do today
• Constructing a research strategy
• Selecting best resources
• How to use resources
• Primary vs secondary vs tertiary
• Evaluating internet resources

3. How to access resources

4. The assignment
• News Articles
• Research paper overview of a type of transnational
crime
– human trafficking,
– drug trafficking,
– art trafficking,
– transnational criminal organizations (i.e. Hells Angels,
Russian Mafia, Yakuza, etc.),
– major figures in transnational organized crime (i.e. Pablo
Escobar, Griselda Blanco, Carlos Lehder, etc.)
– government/law enforcement’s response to transnational
crime (Operation Black Biscuit, Operation Imperial
Emperor, Operation Puma, etc.

5. Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources
•Definitions depend on the department and
subject matter being studied
•“In the humanities, a primary resource could be
defined as something that was created either
during the time period being studied or afterward
by individuals reflecting on their involvement in the
events of the time.”
Primary Sources: Definitions. Lafayette College Libraries & Academic Information Resources.
<http://ww2.lafayette.edu/~library/guides/primarysources/definitions.html> Accessed August 8, 2013
http://www.ala.org/rusa/sections/history/r
esources/pubs/usingprimarysources

6. Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources
• Reading and
evaluating can be
difficult
• Opportunity to come
into contact with the
past
• Enables histories to
experience the past
recreate it
Thanks to the University of North Carolina at Pembroke
Primary sources = raw data = history’

7. Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources
•Evaluating primary sources:
• 1. Identifying type
• Formal treatise
• Contemporary formal treatise
• Public Record
• Private Letters and Journals
• Literary source
• Nonverbal sources
• Oral history

8. Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources
1. Is the source genuine?
2. What is the date of origin?
3. Who is the author?
4. Who is the audience?
Questions to ask yourself when reviewing a document

9. Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources
•Suggestions for reading a primary source
• Read through the entire document quickly to set a
sense of the whole source. Does it show bias? Is the
bias yours or the source?
• Read the document a second time carefully noting
authorship, time period, intended purpose and probably
impact on the intended audience.

10. Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources
•Identify the following:
• Time and place
• Author
• Audience
• Personalities and roles of all people
mentioned
• Meaning and purpose
• Content (colloquial terminology, language
of the day, phrases and phrasing)
• Allusions
• Assumptions and/or bias

11. Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources
•Additional questions to ask yourself1. Do the contents seem reasonable?
2. Are there other primary documents for collaboration or
are there contradictions?
3. Place the document in the larger historical context. Do
secondary resources fit with your interpretation?

12. Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources
•As you are following the steps above, be sure
to note anything you need to come back to and
look these up in reliable reference works.
As you are following the steps above, be sure
to note anything you need to come back to and
look these up in reliable reference works.

13. Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources
•“Tertiary sources provide overviews of topics by
synthesizing information gathered from other
resources. Tertiary resources often provide data in a
convenient form or provide information with context by
which to interpret it.” ~ Virginia Tech Libraries, Accessed 08/14/2013
• Encyclopedias
• Dictionaries
• Handbooks
Oxford Reference

14. Primary, Secondary and Tertiary Sources
•Secondary Sources analyze or interpret
an historical event or artistic work.
•Secondary sources often base their
theories and arguments on the direct
evidence found in primary sources.
• A secondary work for a subject is one
that discusses the subject but is written
after the time contemporary with it.

15. LEXIS-NEXIS

16. Biographical information
• Wikipedia + other free online sites
• Oxford Reference online
• VERIFY
VERIFY
VERIFY

17. What about the internet?at
about the web?

18. Critically analyzing web sources
• Currency
• Relevance/Coverage
• Authority
• Accuracy
• Purpose/Objectivity
• Timeliness of the
information.
• Depth and importance of
the information.
• Source of the information.
• Reliability of the
information
• Possible bias present in the
information.

19. Web Resources
• See Research Guide for vetted resources
• Check with your professor to justify their
inclusion
• If okay, be sure to cite them correctly

20. SEARCH

21. What is included?
• POLAR
• Article-level searching for all EBSCO
databases
• Article-level searching for a variety of
other databases: JSTOR, Hoover’s,
AccessPharmacy, etc.
• Title-level searching for most other
databases: IEEE, CIAO, Proquest
Nursing & Allied Health
• OhioLink central catalog

22. Results: Full Text, Polar

23. Results: OhioLink

24. Results: Find It @ ONU

25. Results: ILL

26. Facets: Limit Your Results

27. Things to Remember
• Facets are your Friend: After you
search, limit your results to what
you really want
• A tool not a solution: This is not
the solution to everything
• Ask the librarians for help
• There will still be some small
changes coming

28. ONU ID is Library Card
Off-campus
access to all
resources and
requesting
OhioLINKs will
require typing in
First and Last
Name and all
11 digits of
ONU ID.

29. Primary v. Secondary Resources
• What is a primary source?
• The definition of a primary source varies depending
upon the academic discipline and the context in
which it is used.
• In the humanities, a primary source could be
defined as something that was created either during
the time period being studied or afterward by
individuals reflecting on their involvement in the
events of that time.

30. Scholarly v. Popular Periodicals

31. Academic Search Complete/Masterfile
Premier

32. Subject Specific Databases
• Criminal justice abstracts
• JSTOR
• CIAO - Columbia International Affairs
Online
• Humanities International Complete
• International Political Science
Abstracts
• Oxford Reference, Politics and Social
Sciences
• Worldwide Political Science Abstracts

33. Bibliographic Citation Software
– REFWORKS
P:drive, Library Instruction folder, RefWORKS
folder for brochure and ppt “HOW TO”

34. • Ask at the Front Desk
• Phone the Reference Desk – 419-772-
2185 (see library page for available hours)
• Contact by E-mail
reference@onu.edu
• t-moritz@onu.edu
• Use Chat Help feature or the IM
QUESTIONS?