If you discover a book that is not available in the Library, and would be useful for your assignment, dissertation or research, ask the Library to purchase it. We rely on our students and staff to help build up diverse and relevant collections across the social sciences, so please put the details of the book on the book suggestion form 

The majority of books are now available in ebook format and can usually be acquired quickly. Books can also be purchased in print format if required.

Academic dictionaries and encyclopedias are excellent places to start your research, to obtain a basic understanding of terminology, concepts and topics, as well as useful references to follow up.

Two important reference resources from Oxford University Press that cover Criminology and are regularly updated with new articles are:

SpringerLink is a highly useful resource. Springer is a major academic publisher in Criminology, and we have access to reference works in the Humanities & Social Sciences. Some of these encyclopedias are "living reference works" which are regularly updated with new content.

Other useful online sources include:

Encyclopedia of criminology and criminal justice / edited by Gerben Bruinsma & David Weisburd. New York : Springer, 2014

It consists of approximately 600 detailed entries, covering ten areas: Corrections and Criminal Justice Supervision in the community -- Courts, Sentencing and the Judicial System -- Police and Law Enforcement -- Crimes, Criminals and Victims -- Crime Places and Situations -- Explanations for Criminal Behavior -- History of Criminology -- Data, Methods and Statistics -- Social Interventions and Prevention -- Forensics and Forensic Science Investigative Psychology -- Psychology of Law

Encyclopedia of community policing and problem solving / edited by Kenneth J. Peak. Thousand Oaks, CA : SAGE, 2013

Encyclopedia of criminological theory / edited by Francis T. Cullen. Thousand Oaks, CA : SAGE, 2010

The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology (2007- continually updated, includes many articles in criminology)

For theoretical criminology, there are additional articles in:
The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social Theory (2017)

And for a broader social sciences context, consult this excellent resource:
International Encyclopedia of the Social & Behavioral Sciences. 2nd ed. (Elsevier: 2015)

The Criminology section on floor 4 of the library (HV 6024 - HV 9999) contains a number of good print reference works, most of which are shelved at HV 6025. They include the following:

HV 6017             The Oxford encyclopedia of crime, media and popular culture / edited by Nicole Rafter & Michelle Brown. New York :                                               Oxford University Press, 2018

HV 6025.E6        The encyclopedia of crime and punishment / edited by Wesley G. Jennings. Chichester : Wiley Blackwell, 2016

HV 6025.E6        The encyclopedia of theoretical criminology / edited by J. Mitchell Miller. Chichester : John Wiley, 2014

HV 6025.E6        Encyclopedia of crime and punishment / edited by David Levinson. Thousand Oaks, CA : SAGE, 2002

HV 6025.E6        Encyclopedia of criminology and deviant behavior / edited by Clifton D. Bryant. Philadelphia : Brunner Routledge, 2001

HV 6025.S2        The SAGE dictionary of criminology / edited by Eugene McLaughlin and John Muncie. 3rd ed. London : SAGE, 2013

HV 6768.E6        Encyclopedia of white collar and corporate crime / edited by Lawrence M. Salinger. 2nd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA : SAGE, 2013

HV 8675.E6        Encyclopedia of criminal justice ethics / edited by Bruce A. Arrigo. Thousand Oaks, CA : SAGE, 2014

You can supplement articles from these sources with more up to date material from the online sources: Oxford Research Encyclopedias; Oxford Bibliographies; Springer Reference

After starting your research by gaining a basic understanding from dictionaries and encyclopedias, try exploring the subject field in more detail by searching handbooks relating to your topic. Handbooks present useful surveys of a field and its components, so can be helpful in giving you an idea of the key themes, debates & authors within a field of study. The handbooks published by Oxford University Press and by Routledge are well regarded academic sources:

The Library has extensive printed collections in Criminology, making use of them will help you find relevant material for assignments. 
Reading list material is kept in the Student Collection (floor 1), the main collections are in the Criminology section on floor 4 at HV 6024-9999.
Use the guides at the end of each row to help you navigate around.

There are several reasons why you might want to use the print collections, here are some of them:
1. The print book format has been around for centuries & still appeals to many students due to its convenient format.
2. Some books are only available in printed format
3. Library search does not index the contents of all print books. Browsing the shelves, using the contents pages and subject index to books is also important
4. Books on the same topic are kept together on the shelves at the same classmark (see below for summary of classification)
5. The pleasure of browsing & discovering something unexpected & useful!

Summary of the Criminology Classification: