The Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics Online (http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook/) is a compilation of data on various aspects of criminal justice in the USA. The Web site is an online version of the print publication Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics. The site includes updates and new data that will appear in the next published edition of the print version.
In all, the site consists of criminal justice data from over 100 sources, presented in over 600 tables. The tables are organized in six different subject sections and cover a wide range of criminal justice topics. The subject sections are: characteristics of the criminal justice systems; public attitudes toward crime and criminal justice‐related topics; nature and distribution of known offenses; characteristics and distribution of persons arrested; judicial processing of defendants; and persons under correction supervision. Under each subject section are more specific subject areas, loosely arranged by similarity. Each specific subject area has one or more data tables. The data table topics range from a listing of “federal agencies employing 500 or more full‐time officers authorized to carry firearms and make arrests” to “public attitudes toward the legality of homosexual relations”, the latter broken down by demographic characteristics and by year of the Gallup Poll.
The site’s layout closely follows the print publication. The home page has a heading graphic in the same style as the cover of the print version. The content is mainly text with colored navigation buttons on the bottom of each page, and the data tables are Adobe PDF files; included here is a link to the Adobe Web site for downloading the free Acrobat Reader. In addition to the data tables, users can find a table of contents, table and figure list, index, source annotations, contributors’ addresses and appendices. Unique to the Web site, in contrast to the print version, is a search capability and a What’s New page. This page contains information on how to obtain the print version, as well as a list of updates and changes made to the data tables in the last 30 days.
Each section page consists of a brief description, a link to all the PDF files for that section, a search box, and a list of links for the specific subject areas. These links are the same as the Sourcebook table of contents. They link to the Table and Figure list, a listing of the data tables under each specific subject area. New and updated tables are flagged in the Table and Figure list.
The site can be searched in three ways, all of which are explained on the search page. Users can perform a keyword search on the Sourcebook index, perform a keyword search on the Table and Figure list, or use the find function in Adobe Acrobat. Simple and Boolean searches can be performed on keyword searches. All Boolean operators must be in capital letters, otherwise the search will yield an invalid search formula error message. The search instructions page indicates phrase searches are allowed by putting words in quotes. In practice, phrase searches yielded either error messages or no results. The find functions in Adobe Acrobat allow both simple and phrase searching. Keyword searches can be performed against the whole index or against one subject section. Adobe Acrobat searches can be performed against a subject section or an individual data table.
It is advisable for users to try all types of searches, since they can yield different results. Searching the Sourcebook index for “age AND offender” yields five matches including “Sentences ‐ Federal offenders ‐ Incarceration ‐ Average sentence”. A close look reveals that the keyword “age” matched on the last three letters of the word “average”. The other four matches were index entries for two tables of data on violent victimizations by type of crime and perceived age of offenders. Searching the Table and Figure list for “age AND offender” yields eight matches. In addition to the two tables of data on violent victimizations, the search found three tables on “offenders committing murder and nonnegligent manslaughter, by age, sex, and race of offender”, two tables on convictions by offense and age of offender, and one table on “average and median length of sentences imposed on federal offenders”. Again, in this case, the search matched the keyword “age” with the word “average”.
Adobe Acrobat’s Find function allows the option of “match whole word only”. Searching for “age” under the “characteristics and distribution of persons arrested” section yielded several tables, including “Percent distribution of total US population and persons arrested for all offenses, by age group”. Using the Adobe Acrobat Find function produces similar results to a simple keyword search on a subject section. The advantage of Acrobat searching is that users can match on a whole word and search for words within a table. If all tables including data specific to “Louisiana” are desired, searching within Acrobat would be the preferred method, since “Louisiana” would not appear in the index or the title. The disadvantage of Acrobat searching is the lack of Boolean search options and the inability to search multiple subject sections.
There are three major advantages of the Web version over the print version of the Sourcebook. First, the Web version is more up‐to‐date and includes data that will not be published until the next print edition. Second, the Web site allows keyword searching of the index, table names, and the complete text of the tables. Third, viewing the tables with Adobe Acrobat allows the user to enlarge the print. The published tables are in very small print that can be hard to read.
The Sourcebook of Criminal Justice Statistics Online is a goldmine of criminal justice data covering a wide range of topics. Criminal justice students and people interested in crime trends, public perceptions of crime, and the criminal justice system will find that the site contains much useful information.
