"Although you may be collecting or generating a large amount of your own research data, there are times when you may be searching for maps and datasets to use in your research. ... MDL staff can help you locate datasets available both in our extensive collection and elsewhere."
The Criminology and Sociolegal Studies Guide offers detailed breakdown of search strategies using Criminal Justice Abstracts.
Keyword searching represents the simplest and most straightforward approach.
Simply type in your keywords, as you would in Google, and the database's relevancy ranking algorithm will (theoretically) display the most relevant records first. Most databases also offer alternative sort options. For example, in Criminal Justice Abstracts you can also sort by date, source, and author.
You can then use filters to fine-tune your results.
Be cautioned, however, that keyword searching can be imprecise; records which do not use your keywords will not appear in your results; for example a search on domestic violence will miss records that use the terms wife abuse or spousal assault instead. As well, if your keywords appear in different parts of the record, that record may not be relevant.
