Crime: Books & eBooks

What is a subject heading?

Subject headings are a formalized way of of searching library catalogs. The right subect heading can help you get to information more quickly.

For example, restorative justice can be described using the following terms:

  • restorative justice
  • alternative justice
  • community justice

You could search the library catalog for all those keywords. Or, use one subject heading to find all of the library's materials about restorative justice:

Restorative justice

Who determines subject headings? The Library of Congress. Copies of the complete set of the Library of Congress Subject Headings are available at the Reference Desk.

Useful Subjects

Subjects in Crime
Computer Crimes Crime Crime Prevention Criminal Behavior
Criminal Psychology Drug Traffic Female Offenders Fraud
Human Trafficking Hate Crimes International Crimes Juvenile Delinquents
Organized Crime Recidivism Sex Offenders Terrorism
Victims of Crime Violent Crime Violent Offenders White Collar Crimes

Browse for Books

Sometimes browsing the library stacks can help you find books you didn't even know you were looking for. The following are good areas to peruse. 

  • BF: Psychology
  • HB, HC: Economic theory and conditions
  • HM: Sociology
  • HT, JF: Public administration
  • HV: Criminology and criminal justice
  • JK: US politics and government
  • KF: US law
  • KFO: Oregon law

Maps of the library are available at the 2nd floor Reference Desk, elevator lobbies, and also online.

Find Books by Subject

book and e book limit options

After you execute a search in the Portland State Library catalog, click on the "books" facet to limit your search results to only books. Click on "eBooks" to limit your results to eBooks.

After you find a useful book, scroll down to the "Details" heading to find the book's "Subjects." Here you'll find a list of related subjects that you might consider adding to your search. You can also click on a subject link in the record, e.g. clicking on "Community health services" would bring up a list of all the Library's books, journals, etc. on that topic.

To modify your search to include a subject, use the advanced search. The advanced search allows you to type in your desired subject and be sure to specify your search field as "in subject."

search term drop down menu

eBook Collections

For a comprehensive list of ebook packages, please visit the Databases and Articles page to sort library resources by ebook format. The following are recommended for starters.