Victims of Crime

• Brainstorm your topic: what words or associations come to mind when you think of your topic?

• Draw a concept map to help visualize your ideas.

• Get background information and an overview of your topic from websites and encyclopedias. See this selection of criminology and law encyclopedias and handbooks from Credo. 

• Check out Guides by Subject

• Identify key concepts of your topic: what are the most important ideas in your research question?

• Create a list of possible keywords to explore

• Find definitions, synonyms, vocabulary and jargon in dictionaries, thesauruses, encyclopedias 

• Recommended search terms include:

  • Victims of Crime, Victimology, Victimization, Victim, Domestic violence, Human trafficking, Child Abuse, Sexual abuse, Violence against, Hate crime,  

  • +  statistics, reports, data, services for, prevention

• Identify the type of information you need: is it general? more detailed? very specific?

• Use the Camosun library's Single Search tool on the library homepage to find books, articles, government reports and much more. Specific library databases are available to find articles, or use a search engine (such as Google, Bing, etc.) for websites.

Need Help?

• Single Search

• Ebooks: Finding and using them

• Library research basics

• Ask A Librarian

• Once you have gathered sources of information, it's important to evaluate their quality.

• Is the information you want to use credible? Is it relevant to your assignment?

• Evaluate information sources using the STAR Criteria - a list of questions to help you determine if you have a valid, quality information source

  • Source: Who is the author? Who is making the information available? What are their credentials or qualifications? What makes them an authority on this subject? Is the source biased or expressing opinion? Choose sources that are credible and relatively objective.

  • Timeliness:When was the information published or last updated? Does the date of publication matter to your assignment? For example, if you are working on a current event, or a science or health topic, you will need something that has been published recently. If you are working on an historical topic, currency may not be as important.

  • Accuracy:Is the information free of spelling, grammatical and technical errors? Where did the information come from? Look for information or references that can be verified.

  • Relevance: Does this information meet the requirements of your assignment? How will it help answer the question you are asking? Choose information that will help you build a strong argument, illuminate concepts, or provide the best evidence

• Check out these videos and tutorials about evaluating information

Style guides are used to determine the correct way to write papers and document sources you have used while researching your essays and reports. There are many different style guides however, at Camosun the four most common citation styles used are APA, MLA, Chicago and IEEE style.

 The following citation libguides provide specific citation and reference examples:

• APA style 
• MLA style 
• Chicago style 
• IEEE style

Please confirm with your instructor which style you should be using.