Lamson Library: CJ 1060 Technology in Criminal Justice (Dr. Mackey): Subject Encyclopedias

Finding a Useful Encyclopedia Article.

Many students have had trouble doing this assignment in the past because they felt the article had to match their topic exactly. It does not, and in some cases it probably won't.

For example:

If your topic is 5G communication in police patrol cars, you probably will not find an article that addresses exactly that subject. However, you know that 5G technology deals with wireless communication. So, you'd look up the history of wireless technology and by combining what you learn, you'll be able to make the point that 5G communication will allow for more private communication between patrol cars and police department headquarters. Be creative!

Find a Subject Encyclopedia Article That:

relates to some aspect of your topic
you will cite in your paper
you can format in APA

http://library.plymouth.edu

Selecting the Right Search Term:

The editors of the encyclopedia may have used different terms than you have in mind. Think of (or do a Google Search) synonyms.

Your topic:

Body Armor (This subject heading was not especially productive for this search.)

Possible Synonyms:

Anti-Ballistic
Armor (Not as useful as expected)
Ballistic Resistant
Ballistic Vest
Bullet Proof Vest
Bullet Resistant
Bulletproof Vest
Flak Jacket
Helmet (Interesting but a bit off-topic.)
Kevlar
Protective Clothing (This turned out to be the best subject heading for this topic.)

Reading the entry for "protective clothing (Watkins, 2005)" led to ideas for more title to search in the catalog. Using this information and the bibliography I was able to find the article by Schram, et al. (2018) that had what appeared to me to be very useful information. Using these headings, I was also able to find a good government publication (U.S. DOJ, 2009).

Schram, B., Orr, R., Pope, R., Hinton, B., & Norris, G. (2018). Comparing the effects of different body armor systems on the occupational performance of police officers. Internatioal Journa of Environmental Research and Public Health, 15(5). https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15050893 [https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/15/5/893/pdf]

United States Department of Justice (2009). Ballistic resistance of body armor. Nova Science Publishers, Inc.

Watkins, S. M. (2005). Protective clothing. In V. Steele (Ed.), Encyclopedia of clothing and fashion (Vol. 3, pp. 58-60). Detroit, MI: Charles Scribner's Sons. Retrieved from Gale eBooks Database.