Vassar Library Search is the best tool for finding books within our collections, as well as journals, database titles, government documents, and other materials useful to your research.

1. Start with a keyword search, subject subject, or search by title, author or subject.
2. Use the filters on the left side to filter by, 
   1. Availability: select Available Online or Physical Collections
   2. Resource Type: select Books or Book Chapters

Sample searches 

• (juvenile OR "juvenile offenders") AND (sentenc* OR "juvenile justice")
• (politicalization OR partisan* OR polari*) AND (courts or judges)

The majority (though not all) print books related to law and courts in the US can be found in the KF 1-9827 call number range, Main Library Rm. 69.

You will also find peer-reviewed articles, magazine and newspaper articles (and much more) in Library Search, making it a great place to start your research. 

Subject headings - controlled vocabulary that describe a topic and subtopic in a standardized, consistent way; located at the bottom of the catalog record. 

• for exp. Courts -- United States;  Politics and government; Judicial Power 

Library of Congress (LC) subject heading classifications are most commonly used; article databases, such a JSTOR, may use their own subject headings.

Dumas, Tao, and Alexandra Mannix. "Gender, race, and politics in judicial process." In Research Handbook on Law and Political Systems, pp. 40-56. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2023.

Curry, Todd, and Michael Romano. "Majoritarians in robes: Judicial representation and the changing nature of judicial audience in the United States." In Research Handbook on Law and Political Systems, pp. 25-39. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2023.

Bonica, Adam, and Maya Sen. The Judicial Tug of War : How Lawyers, Politicians, and Ideological Incentives Shape the American Judiciary / Adam Bonica, Stanford University, California, Maya Sen, Harvard University, Massachusetts. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2021.