Virtual Library Tutorial

You can use the site search box located at the top of every page of the Search Filters interface on the Virtual Library Search page to locate materials housed within the NCJRS Virtual Library and Abstracts Database collection. From the Virtual Library Search page, you can search on the following parameters:

• Title
• Author
• Journal
• NCJ (document) Number
• Keywords

Search results returned are sorted by relevancy. You can also sort your results by title, date published, or date added to the website.

Documents in the NCJRS Virtual Library represent the entire field of criminal justice, juvenile justice, and drug issues, with the exception of most legal decisions, opinions, and statutes. The collection has been developed to meet the needs of criminal justice professionals, researchers, policymakers, and technical and legal experts. Subject areas include corrections, courts, crime prevention, criminology, drugs, juveniles, law enforcement, statistics, technology, and victims. Agency produced documents and final grant reports of OJP sponsored research are unique parts of the collection. Many documents are from state and local governments, or international sources, as well as from book and journal literature sources. Documents must either be written in English or have an English-language summary.

Note that on October 1, 2014, the NCJRS Virtual Library began to focus primarily on the collection of informational materials and resources produced, funded, and/or sponsored by the OJP program offices. All materials housed in the NCJRS Virtual Library prior to October 2014 will remain searchable and accessible through Virtual Library services. Due in part to these changes, NCJRS expanded the scope of the Virtual Library in other areas, including collaborative efforts with public and private libraries, consortia, and repositories designed to increase and expand access to both published and unpublished criminal justice information.

To obtain resources from the NCJRS Virtual Library, follow the instructions provided below. As a policy, if an online version of a document (PDF, HTML, etc.) is available and presented, the NCJRS Virtual Library will not provide that resource through the Interlibrary Loan Program or Photocopy/PDF Service except in situations where the patron does not have online access.

• Online
• Mail
• Photocopy/PDF
• Interlibrary Loans
• Local Libraries

Online

Many documents — and most documents published by NCJRS' federal sponsors since 1995 — are available in full-text format. Links to these online documents are included in the full abstract record and appear on the search results page. Please note: In addition to full-text document links, links to publisher websites or other relevant resources may be provided.

Mail

In addition to being available online, original copies of many recent documents published by NCJRS' federal sponsors within OJP can be ordered. An "Order" link will be available on the abstract detail pages for items that are available for online ordering through NCJRS. An "Order Photocopy" link appears for results that are not available in our inventory, but can be ordered through NCJRS' Photocopy/PDF Service (see below for details about this service). Click on either link to add the item to your NCJRS Shopping Cart.

Photocopy/PDF

Black-and-white photocopies or PDFs of select NCJRS Abstracts Database materials are available for a fee. Because of copyright restrictions, only one photocopy or PDF of a document can be provided per request. Photocopies and PDFs of copyright-protected materials are not normally available from NCJRS. However, special exceptions are made for requests that comply with Fair Use criteria (17 USC 107). See below for information on NCJRS' Standard and Fair Use photocopy/PDF requests as well as copyright restrictions.

Standard Requests

An "Order Photocopy" link will appear on an abstract detail page for documents that can be ordered online through NCJRS' standard photocopy/PDF service.

Photocopy/PDF fees are calculated based on the number of pages appearing in the original document (page count) and your location (domestic or outside the U.S.). Page counts may include blank pages as they appear in the original document. The chart below details photocopy/PDF service fees. Customers will not be billed until the availability of the requested document is confirmed.

Fair Use Requests

The Fair Use clause (17 USC 107) allows for reproduction of particular works for purposes including criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Four factors are considered when determining whether or not a particular request complies with the Fair Use clause:

1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether it is commercial in nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes.
2. The nature of the copyrighted work.
3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole.
4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work.

Fair Use requests received by NCJRS are evaluated against these four factors and either approved or rejected. To place a Fair Use request simply email, mail, or fax your request to the NCJRS Virtual Library clearly citing the document and stating the purpose of the request (i.e. research, scholarship, teaching, etc.). NCJRS Virtual Library staff will respond to your request promptly and advise you on how to proceed.

Under no circumstances does receiving a photocopy or PDF from NCJRS waive copyright. Copyright protects the particular way an author has expressed themselves and does not extend to ideas, systems, or factual information conveyed in the work. All subsequent use of the materials must be approved by the copyright holder, normally the author or publisher of a document, and cannot be authorized by NCJRS. Title 17, Section 108 absolves library institutions of all subsequent violations and places the responsibility of obtaining copyright permission for future use on the patron who received the Fair Use copy. Acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material does not substitute for obtaining permission.

Interlibrary Loans

All of the materials in the NCJRS Virtual Library are available through interlibrary loan to patrons in the United States and Canada. Interlibrary loans within the United States cost $15 per item. Loans to Canada cost $16.50 (U.S. funds) per item. Payment via credit card is required before the loan can be processed. While institutions can use a purchase order when placing their order, all purchase order invoices must be paid for using a credit card. Loans to personnel from U.S. Federal, State, and local government agencies — including law enforcement and corrections personnel — are free of charge.

To initiate an interlibrary loan, contact a librarian at your local library for assistance. Interlibrary loan requests can be submitted to the NCJRS Virtual Library by mail, fax, or email:

NCJRS Virtual Library
P.O. Box 6000
Rockville, MD 20849-6000
301-240-5830 (fax)
Email: [email protected]

Local Libraries

Many of the publications housed in the NCJRS Virtual Library collection are available at local libraries and NCJRS provides a function for you to search these collections through the "Find in a Library" service. At times, it might be faster, cheaper, and/or more convenient to access the documents you find in the NCJRS Virtual Library collection at a library in your area.

By clicking on the "Find in a Library" link from an abstract detail page, you can access OCLC WorldCat® to check if the document you are interested in is available in your local library. After clicking on the "Find in a Library" button, NCJRS will send a document or journal title search to WorldCat®, a global consortium of over 10,000 libraries. A pop-up page, providing you with details of what is being searched, will display for your confirmation before directing you to the WorldCat® website.

Links to Online Materials

While searching the NCJRS Virtual Library Abstracts Database collection, you may encounter links to online materials. Online government information accessed through the database is in the public domain. This information may be freely distributed and copied, but in any subsequent use, the authoring agency should be cited and given appropriate acknowledgement. Materials authored or published by other, non-government organizations may be protected by U.S. and foreign copyright laws. These links are provided for the convenience of internet access. NCJRS does not hold the copyrights for these materials. Transmission or reproduction of protected items beyond that allowed by fair use as defined in the copyright laws requires the written permission of the copyright owners. It is the responsibility of the user to examine the copyright and licensing restrictions of linked pages and to secure all necessary permission if further use of these materials is desired.

Protected Materials

Many items contained in the NCJRS Virtual Library are available in their original form via Interlibrary Loan. NCJRS does not hold copyright or reprint permission for these materials and cannot provide online or photocopy access to these documents. If these materials are borrowed from the NCJRS Virtual Library, it is the responsibility of the user to acquire copyright permission from the publisher for further use of the material. Most of these materials are available directly from the document publishers. When it's available, NCJRS provides the publisher URL in the Virtual Library abstract record.

Photocopy/PDF Materials

Some items contained in the NCJRS Abstracts Database are available from the NCJRS Virtual Library Photocopy/PDF Service. NCJRS has been granted reproduction rights only for single photocopy orders for these materials. If these materials are acquired from the NCJRS Virtual Library, it is the responsibility of the user to obtain copyright permission from the publisher for further use of the material. Additionally, special exceptions are made for requests that comply with Fair Use criteria (17 USC 107). The Fair Use clause (17 USC 107) allows for reproduction of particular works for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Four factors are considered in determining whether or not a particular request complies with the Fair Use clause:

1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes.
2. The nature of the copyrighted work.
3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole.
4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work.

Fair Use requests received by NCJRS are evaluated against these four factors and either approved or rejected. To place a Fair Use request simply email, mail, or fax your request to the NCJRS Virtual Library clearly citing the document and stating the purpose of the request (i.e. research, scholarship, teaching, etc.). NCJRS Virtual Library staff will promptly respond to your request and advise you on how to proceed.

Under no circumstances does receiving a loan or photocopy from NCJRS waive copyright. Copyright protects the particular way an author has expressed themselves, it does not extend to ideas, systems, or factual information conveyed in the work. All subsequent use of the materials must be approved by the copyright holder, normally the author or publisher of a document, and cannot be authorized by NCJRS. Title 17, Section 108 absolves library institutions of all subsequent violations and places the responsibility of obtaining copyright permission for future use on the patron. Acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material does not substitute for obtaining permission.