C&RL News October 2015 516

Joni R. Roberts is associate university librarian for public 
services and collection development at Willamette 
University, email: jroberts@willamette.edu, and Carol 
A. Drost is associate university librarian for technical 
ser vices at Willamette University, email: cdrost@
willamette.edu 

I n t e r n e t  R e v i e w sJoni R. Roberts and Carol A. Drost

Bureau of Justice Statistics. Access: http: 
http://www.bjs.gov/.
Established in 1979, the Bureau of Justice 

Statistics (BJS) is a component of the Office of 
Justice Programs within the U.S. Department 
of Justice and serves as the primary source 
for criminal justice statistics for the United 
States. Nine main criminal justice topics are 
covered by BJS: “Corrections,” “Courts,” “Crime 
Type,” “Criminal Justice Data Improvement 
Program,” “Employment and Expenditure,” 
“Federal,” “Indian Country Justice Statistics,” 
“Law Enforcement,” and “Victims.” Each topic 
provides linked access to numerous subtop-
ics. For instance, law enforcement subtopics 
include community policing, arrest-related 
deaths, police-public contact, forensic inves-
tigation, and campus law enforcement. Topics 
and subtopics are divided into sections such 
as “Data Collections & Surveys,” “Publications 
& Products,” “Terms & Definitions,” and more. 
Topics can be accessed from the side menu 
on the homepage or using the “Topics” tab 
on the top. The homepage also provides new 
and updated resources, announcements, and 
tweets on pertinent topics. 

“Publications & Products” offers users the 
opportunity to view by topic or product, alpha-
betical index, specific search, or forthcoming. 
“Data Collections” are available via criminal 
justice topic. “Funding” provides information 
on past and current solicitations, funding 
programs, applications and forms, and assis-
tance to state, local, and tribal governments. 
“Data Analysis Tools” provides information 
via dynamic tools or topics including Crime 
Trends from FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports, 
NCVS Victimization Analysis Tool, and a 
Prisoner Recidivism Analysis Tool. Using the 
specific information buttons to search provides 

more leverage in searching and locating exact 
information. If one is unsure where to find 
information on a topic, using the A–Z list will 
quickly provide the resource location. 

The “Help” section provides valuable infor-
mation on searching and locating key matches 
to ensure users find the best resources on 
their topic. The section also includes tutorials, 
“Data and Product Finder,” and information 
on file formats. Contact information for as-
sistance is provided via email, telephone, or 
writing to BJS. 

This site provides a wealth of information 
on criminal justice topics. The ease in search-
ing information makes this a worthy tool for 
the professional and novice criminal justice 
researcher.—Karen Evans, Indiana State Uni-
versity, Karen.Evans@indstate.edu 

Environmental Health & Toxicology. Access: 
http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/enviro.html.
Exposure to hazardous substances and the 

adverse effects chemical and biologic agents 
have on human populations are issues of 
growing concern. While news coverage of 
catastrophic environmental events is often 
immediate (and alarmist), authoritative in-
formation about prevention, diagnosis, and 
treatment of illnesses, diseases, disorders, or 
impairments resulting from contaminants is 
less forthcoming. It is the purpose of this site to 
provide easy access to accurate, reliable, and 
current environmental health and toxicology 
resources and services. The intended audience 
includes health professionals, researchers, edu-
cators and students, toxicologists, emergency 
responders, and the general public.

Under the umbrella of the U.S. Department 
of Health and Human Services, the Division 
of Specialized Information Services produces 
through its Toxicology and Environmental 
Health Information Program (TEHIP) and in 
conjunction with the National Library of Medi-
cine, a wealth of information resources directly 
related to the topic. A core feature of the site 
is direct access to TOXNET, an integrated 



October 2015 517 C&RL News

network of 15 environmental health databases 
that includes the Hazardous Substances Data 
Bank, ChemIDplus, and Toxicology Literature 
Online. 

Other specialized databases cover chemical 
releases, household product safety, occupa-
tional exposure to chemicals, breastfeeding 
and drugs, developmental toxicology, genom-
ics, risk assessment, and animal testing alter-
natives. From a single discovery box, visitors 
can search by keyword across all databases or 
choose from among the most relevant. Browse 
functionality is by single word, CAS registry 
number, or chemical name. Not surprisingly 
given the diversity of topics, data, and format, 
advanced search and filtering options are avail-
able from within a specific resource but not 
across all data banks simultaneously.

The site provides pathways to information 
resources through its organization scheme. 
From the homepage, visitors can begin a 
TOXNET search or explore information by 
topic or population. Categories are listed as 
“Find Information About,” “Especially For,” 
“Search TOXNET Databases,” “Other Profes-
sional Resources,” “Resources for the Public,” 
“Enviro-Health Links,” “Guides & Tutorials,” 
and “Quick Tours.” An A-Z index of resources, 
information about TEHIP and about the three 
most visited TOXNET databases, current 
events and news, and links to email and social 
media tools round out the site. 

Although the organizational scheme and 
duplication in access points may confuse some 
visitors, access to authoritative toxicology and 
environmental health information in one place 
is invaluable.—Linda Frederiksen, Washington 
State University-Vancouver, lfrederiksen@van-
couver.wsu.edu 

Theological Commons. Access: http:// 
commons.ptsem.edu/.
Theological Commons, hosted and main-

tained by Princeton Theological Seminary, 
is a digital collection of more than 80,000 
resources on theology and religion. The larg-
est percentage of the material on the website 
was provided by the Princeton Theological 
Seminary Library. Although the majority of the 

material is in English, there are thousands of 
French, Dutch, and German artifacts, as well.

The homepage provides a search screen 
(keyword, title, and author). A toolbar on 
the left margin of the site permits the re-
searcher to refine searches according to date 
(1801–1825, 1826–1850, 1851–1875, etc.) and 
format (books, periodicals, audio, theses). As 
might be expected from a website hosted by 
Princeton Theological Seminary, the strength 
of Theological Commons lies in its holdings on 
reformed theology and history. A customized 
search retrieved 59 articles on “Old School 
Presbyterianism,” including articles published 
in Christian Century during the early decades 
of the 20th century, as well as lectures deliv-
ered at the YMCA in London during the period 
1840 to 1870. A second search retrieved 542 
results in German on the 19th-century theo-
logian Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834).

Theological Commons features three major 
collections. “The Benson Collection of Hym-
nals and Hymnology” contains approximately 
12,000 volumes, including historical hymn-
books of the major Protestant denominations, 
gospel anthologies, and books about hymns 
and hymn writers. 

Also included are materials on classical 
(Greek and Latin) hymnody and hymnbooks 
in various languages produced for use in the 
mission field. The “Payne Theological Semi-
nary and A.M.E. Church Archive” chronicles 
the history of Payne Theological Seminary (the 
oldest freestanding seminary in the country), 
Wilburforce University (the first predominantly 
African American university in the nation), 
and a digital history of the African Method-
ist Church. “The T. F. Torrance Collection of 
Antiquarian Books” includes 400 rare volumes 
published before 1800 on the history of Chris-
tianity in Scotland, as well as 230 boxes (or 
110 linear feet) of archival material, including 
Torrance’s English translation of Karl Barth’s 
Church Dogmatics.

Theological Commons is a highly special-
ized site recommended for researchers of 19th- 
and early 20th-century American Protestant-
ism.—Wendell G. Johnson, Northern Illinois 
University, wjohnso1@niu.edu