{"data":[{"id":121,"title":"Advanced Business Law and the Legal Environment","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2012,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"Mayer, Warner, Siedel and Lieberman's Advanced Business Law and the Legal Environment is an up-to-date textbook with coverage of legal and regulatory issues that are more technical than the topics in the authors' Foundations of Business Law and the Legal Environment. Appropriate for students who have already taken an introductory Legal Environment or Business Law course, the text is organized to permit instructors to tailor the materials to their particular approach. The authors take special care to engage students by relating law to everyday events with which they are already familiar with their clear, concise and readable style. Advanced Business Law and the Legal Environment provides students with context and essential legal concepts relating to the Uniform Commercial Code and various aspects of property law. The text provides the vocabulary and legal savvy necessary for business people to talk in an educated way to their customers, employees, suppliers, and other stakeholders — and to their own lawyers.","contributors":[{"id":3477,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Don","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Mayer","location":"University of Denver","background_text":"Don Mayer teaches law, ethics, public policy, and sustainability at the Daniels College of Business, University of Denver, where he is Professor in Residence. His research focuses on the role of business in creating a more just, sustainable, peaceful and productive world. With James O'Toole, Professor Mayer has co-edited and contributed content to Good Business: Exercising Effective \u0026 Ethical Leadership (Routledge: Taylor and Francis, 2010). He is also co-author of International Business Law: Cases and Materials, in its 5th edition with Pearson Publishing Co. He recently served as the first Arsht Visiting Ethics Scholar at the University of Miami. After attending Kenyon College (philosophy) and Duke University Law School, Professor Mayer served as a \"JAG officer\" with the United States Air Force during the Vietnam conflict, and went to private practice in North Carolina. He went to Washington D.C. in 1984 to attend Georgetown University Law Center, where he earned his LL.M. in International and Comparative law in 1985. He began an academic career in 1985 at Western Carolina University, and was a full professor at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan for many years before coming to the University of Denver. He has taught as a visitor at California State Polytechnic University, the University of Michigan, the Manchester Business School Worldwide, and Antwerp Management School. Professor Mayer has won numerous awards from the Academy of Legal Studies in Business, including the Hoeber Award for best article in the American Business Law Journal, twice won the Maurer Award for best article on business ethics, and three times won the Ralph Bunch Award for best article on international business law. His work has been published in many journals and law reviews, but most often in American Business Law Journal, the Journal of Business Ethics, and the Business Ethics Quarterly."},{"id":3478,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Daniel","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Warner","location":"Western Washington University","background_text":"Daniel Warner is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Washington, where-- following military service--he also attended law school. After some years of civil practice, he joined the faculty at the College of Business and Economics at Western Washington University in 1978 where he is now a professor of business legal studies in the Accounting Department. He has published extensively exploring the intersection of popular culture and the law, for which publications he has five times received the College of Business Dean's Research Award for \"distinguished contributions in published research.\" He served eight years on the Whatcom County Council, two years as its Chair. He has served on the Faculty Senate, on various university and college committees including chairman of the University Master Plan Committee; he has been active in state Bar Association committee work and in local politics, where he has served on numerous boards and commissions over 30 years."},{"id":3479,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"George","middle_name":"J.","last_name":"Siedel","location":"University of Michigan","background_text":"George J. Siedel's research addresses legal issues that relate to international business law, negotiation, and dispute resolution. Recent publications focus on proactive law and the use of law to gain competitive advantage. His work in progress includes research on the impact of litigation on large corporations and the use of electronic communication as evidence in litigation. Professor Siedel has been admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court and in Michigan, Ohio, and Florida. Following graduation from law school, he worked as an attorney in a professional corporation. He has also served on several boards of directors and as Associate Dean of the University of Michigan Business School. The author of numerous books and articles, Professor Siedel has received several research awards, including the Faculty Recognition Award from the University of Michigan and the following awards from the Academy of Legal Studies in Business: the Hoeber Award, the Ralph Bunche Award and the Maurer Award. The Center for International Business Education and Research selected a case written by Professor Siedel for its annual International Case Writing Award. His research has been cited by appellate courts in the United States and abroad, including the High Court of Australia. Professor Siedel has served as Visiting Professor of Business Law at Stanford University, Visiting Professor of Business Administration at Harvard University, and Parsons Fellow at the University of Sydney. He has been elected a Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University's Wolfson College and a Life Fellow of the Michigan State Bar Foundation. As a Fulbright Scholar, Professor Siedel held a Distinguished Chair in the Humanities and Social Sciences."},{"id":3480,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Jethro","middle_name":"K.","last_name":"Lieberman","location":"New York Law School","background_text":"Jethro K. Lieberman is professor of law and VP for Academic Publishing at New York Law School, where he has taught for more than a quarter century. He took his B.A. in politics and economics from Yale University, his J.D. from Harvard Law School, and his Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University. He began his teaching career at Fordham University Law School and before that was VP at what is now the CPR International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution. For nearly ten years he was Legal Affairs Editor of Business Week Magazine. He practiced antitrust and trade regulation law at a large Washington law firm and was on active duty as a member of the Navy’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps during the Vietnam era. He is the author of The Litigious Society (Basic Books), winner of the American Bar Association’s top literary prize, the Silver Gavel, and also of A Practical Companion to the Constitution: How the Supreme Court Has Ruled on Issues from Abortion to Zoning (University of California Press), among many other books. He is a long-time letterpress printer and proprietor of The Press at James Pond, a private press, and owner of the historic Kelmscott- Goudy Press, an Albion hand press that was used to print the Kelmscott Press edition of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales in the 1890s."},{"id":3481,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Alyssa","middle_name":"Rose","last_name":"Martina","location":"Metro Parent Publishing Group","background_text":"Alyssa Rose Martina is an entrepreneur, businesswoman, professional writer, and educator. She started her first company, Metro Parent Magazine, in 1986, after serving for five years as legal counsel for Wayne County Circuit Court, one of the nation s largest state judicial circuits. As a dedicated entrepreneur, she saw an opportunity to fill a void for parents and established a family magazine. Today, more than 263,000 readers rely on Metro Parent as their parenting bible. Alyssa s company, Metro Parent Publishing Group, also produces several ancillary publications: Metro Baby, a biannual pregnancy resource guide; Going Places, a biannual guide to family fun in Southeast Michigan; Party Book, an event planning resource guide; and Special Edition, a resource for parents regarding children with special needs. To offer support and resources to African American families, Alyssa saw an opportunity to establish a second publishing company catered to the African American market. In 1999, the company was launched and today, BLAC Magazine, which covers Black Life, Arts and Culture, reaches over sixty thousand readers in the Detroit region. This monthly lifestyle publication explores and celebrates the rich cultural fabric of African American life in southeast Michigan, under the guidance of African American community leaders and educators and a distinguished panel of advisors who form an advisory council."}],"subjects":[{"id":2,"name":"Business","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"HF5001","visible_textbooks_count":144,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/business"},{"id":62,"name":"Civil Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"K623","visible_textbooks_count":26,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/law-civil-law"},{"id":68,"name":"Constitutional Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"K3154","visible_textbooks_count":19,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/constitutional-law"},{"id":63,"name":"Criminal Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"KB3790","visible_textbooks_count":20,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/criminal-law"},{"id":11,"name":"Law","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"KF385.A4","visible_textbooks_count":99,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/law"},{"id":66,"name":"Property Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"K7200","visible_textbooks_count":22,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/property-law"}],"publishers":[{"id":65,"url":"http://www.saylor.org/site/textbooks/Advanced%20Business%20Law%20and%20the%20Legal%20Environment.pdf","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:36.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:36.000-05:00","name":"Saylor Foundation"}],"formats":[{"id":232,"type":"PDF","url":"http://www.saylor.org/site/textbooks/Advanced%20Business%20Law%20and%20the%20Legal%20Environment.pdf","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":233,"type":"Online","url":"https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_advanced-business-law-and-the-legal-environment/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":3,"reviews":[{"id":1208,"first_name":"Kimberly","last_name":"Houser","position":"Clinical Associate Professor of Business Law","institution_name":"Washington State University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book presents a thorough summary of the expected topics relevant to an undergraduate Business Law course. I would recommend, however, that an index and glossary be provided for students to utilize while reading such dense text. The chapters are reasonably ordered in a logical manner that should be easy to follow, and the supplemental case studies pertaining to almost every chapter are helpful to develop and establish student learning with real life scenarios.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content presented appears to be accurate and no information is misrepresented or biased.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Law is a continuously advancing topic, so as this book was published in 2012 the core concepts seem correct and relevant but case studies and legislation changes will need to be updated. I believe updates would require editing of the text.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Clear, concepts well explained, and the writing is very user friendly. This is one of the biggest advantages of this text. There are thorough explanations in easy to understand language.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is formatted consistently throughout the book, with clear road-maps of the expectations and topics discussed in each segment. I do believe an index and glossary would benefit the reader.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is divided into chapters, and then further divided into more concise modules that make it easy to cover topics individually or in the order presented. There seems to be enough subheadings to help the reader locate different topics.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Organization is clear and logically laid out. Easy to follow the thought process from start to finish, and topics seemed to naturally build on each other.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"The lack of index for the text in both provided versions, and the lack of table of contents for the PDF could create some difficulties for students attempting to navigate the text.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors stood out within the text.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Nothing appeared insensitive or offensive within the text, it is appropriate and unbiased for this course.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I would recommend providing a test bank for instructors. The self-quiz questions in the textbook are pretty basic, but good for the students to review after each module before moving on to the next to make sure they are understanding the concepts.","created_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-06-20T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":1860,"first_name":"Andre ","last_name":"Maingot","position":"Senior Library Manager (Intellectual Property","institution_name":"The Open University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"For a book that assumes at least a base level knowledge of law, it does well to cover the basic questions for any law student such as What is Law?. It also breaks down a lot of key terms and the context in which the law functions in each area. I think it could have done with a glossary at the end of each chapter which would help for revision purposes. The chapters are organised in a logical manner which makes it easy to follow and the learning points at the beginning of each chapter make it easier to focus on particular areas when reading. ","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Even though the law constantly changes I would say it was accurate for the time it was written though some cases may be outdated (not the fault of the authors). To review it now it could do with updating some those cases. I did not come across any errors or points which I felt the authors were biased. ","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The concepts presented are up to date although some of the cases may need updating to illustrate the points being made. Those updates would be fairly simple to update. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book is rich with legal terminology but each one is written in bold and gives a basic explanation on what the term means. Again a glossary of terms could be useful at the end of each chapter making it easier for students to revise. Once again the learning points at the beginning of each chapter informs the reader what they should get from each chapter and the case studies also work well when illustrating a point. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book has the same headings throughout so you know what to expect in each chapter. For example, the 'Key Takeaways' are key points to learn. Sub-issues and headings are also clearly labelled throughout so there is no confusion when you are moving on to a new topic. The frameworks, particularly relating to legal concepts are also consistent.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This is one of the main things I like the about this book. It is broken down logically and follows an order that can allow a student or other readers to work their way through it. The colourful sub areas also break up the text visually rather than pages of heavy text. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The structure was logical and did not feel like a bunch of topics in no particular order. You could read a chapter and possibly carry something you learned into the next one so this was carefully thought out. ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"There were no navigation issues. I did not find myself having to flick back to something I previously read because it was sign-posted that way. I think it would be good to include hyperlinks to allow readers to reach a particular part of the book with ease,particularly if a case summary resides somewhere else within the book. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not come across any grammatical errors in this text.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This book does not appear to have any material that is not culturally insensitive or offensive. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"No","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":34346,"first_name":"Simonee","last_name":"Thomas","position":"Political Science Dual Enrollment Faculty","institution_name":"Tidewater Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text accomplishes its comprehensiveness through twenty-eight integral content chapters that scholarly express the accepted consensus of legal thought and business law principles, in other terms, commercial law under the discipline of Law. Although this text design excludes the utilization of an index or glossary, its list of key legal terms considerations and chapter summarizations effectively overshadow the need for such supplementations.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Advanced Business Law and the Legal Environment presents complex legalese with accurate Key Takeaway explanations, fact-based Notes to Students, significant Case Questions, and insightful Exercises per each content Chapter's specified learning objectives and outcomes in a nonpartisan and unbiased manner.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The text's selection of particular legal conceptualizations and case selections eradicate text obsolescence inherently and ideationally through its organization and coverage of content.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is user-friendly and understandable for a general audience while simultaneously propelling scholarly precision, which offers immense clarity.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"What produces consistency for the text is its concise Chapter summaries and overviews that progress logically throughout its length.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is easily divisible through its subheadings which is an indispensable tool for the conceptual progression of the course.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The topics of the text advance from its most foundational conceptualizations to its logical conceptual specificities.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"The text's formatting has distracting Chapter display issues yet is free of significant navigational interface issues.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"The text contains minor grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive in its presentation of legal principles, for example, in its inclusion of feminist legal thought, its coverage of European Colonialization, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the power struggles between Hutus and Tutsi in Rwanda that resulted in the genocide of Tutsi majority.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Advanced Business Law and the Legal Environment is an excellent \"one-stop-shop\" text for all your course essentials.","created_at":"2023-01-05T12:56:09.000-06:00","updated_at":"2023-01-05T12:56:09.000-06:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/advanced-business-law-and-the-legal-environment","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:01:49.000-06:00"},{"id":273,"title":"Business Law and the Legal Environment","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2012,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"Our goal is to provide students with a textbook that is up to date and comprehensive in its coverage of legal and regulatory issues—and organized to permit instructors to tailor the materials to their particular approach. This book engages students by relating law to everyday events with which they are already familiar (or with which they are familiarizing themselves in other business courses) and by its clear, concise, and readable style. (An earlier business law text by authors Lieberman and Siedel was hailed “the best written text in a very crowded field.”) This textbook provides context and essential concepts across the entire range of legal issues with which managers and business executives must grapple. The text provides the vocabulary and legal acumen necessary for businesspeople to talk in an educated way to their customers, employees, suppliers, government officials—and to their own lawyers.","contributors":[{"id":3070,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Don","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Mayer","location":"University of Miami","background_text":"Don Mayer teaches law, ethics, public policy, and sustainability at the Daniels College of Business, University of Denver, where he is professor in residence. His research focuses on the role of business in creating a more just, sustainable, peaceful, and productive world. With James O’Toole, Professor Mayer has coedited and contributed content to Good Business: Exercising Effective and Ethical Leadership (Routledge, 2010). He is also coauthor of International Business Law: Cases and Materials, which is in its fifth edition with Pearson Publishing Company. He recently served as the first Arsht Visiting Ethics Scholar at the University of Miami."},{"id":3071,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Daniel","middle_name":"M.","last_name":"Warner","location":"Western Washington University","background_text":"Daniel M. Warner is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Washington, where–following military service–he also attended law school. In 1978, after several years of civil practice, he joined the faculty at the College of Business and Economics at Western Washington University, where he is now a professor of business legal studies in the Accounting Department. He has published extensively, exploring the intersection of popular culture and the law, and has received the College of Business Dean’s Research Award five times for “distinguished contributions in published research.” Professor Warner served on the Whatcom County Council for eight years (two years as its chair). He has served on the Faculty Senate and on various university and college committees, including as chairman of the University Master Plan Committee. Professor Warner has also been active in state bar association committee work and in local politics, where he has served on numerous boards and commissions for over thirty years."},{"id":3072,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"George","middle_name":"J.","last_name":"Siedel","location":"University of Michigan Business School","background_text":"George J. Siedel’s research addresses legal issues that relate to international business law, negotiation, and dispute resolution. Recent publications focus on proactive law and the use of law to gain competitive advantage. His work in progress includes research on the impact of litigation on large corporations and the use of electronic communication as evidence in litigation. Professor Siedel has been admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court and in Michigan, Ohio, and Florida. Following graduation from law school, he worked as an attorney in a professional corporation. He has also served on several boards of directors and as associate dean of the University of Michigan Business School."}],"subjects":[{"id":2,"name":"Business","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"HF5001","visible_textbooks_count":144,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/business"},{"id":62,"name":"Civil Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"K623","visible_textbooks_count":26,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/law-civil-law"},{"id":68,"name":"Constitutional Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"K3154","visible_textbooks_count":19,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/constitutional-law"},{"id":64,"name":"Contract Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"K7265","visible_textbooks_count":25,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/environmental-law"},{"id":63,"name":"Criminal Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"KB3790","visible_textbooks_count":20,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/criminal-law"},{"id":11,"name":"Law","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"KF385.A4","visible_textbooks_count":99,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/law"},{"id":66,"name":"Property Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"K7200","visible_textbooks_count":22,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/property-law"}],"publishers":[{"id":162,"url":"https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_business-law-and-the-legal-environment-v1.0-a/index.html","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:37.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:37.000-05:00","name":"Saylor Foundation"}],"formats":[{"id":307,"type":"Online","url":"https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_business-law-and-the-legal-environment-v1.0-a/index.html","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":308,"type":"PDF","url":"http://www.saylor.org/site/textbooks/Business%20Law%20and%20the%20Legal%20Environment.pdf","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":6,"reviews":[{"id":769,"first_name":"Jena","last_name":"Martin","position":"Associate Dean ","institution_name":"West Virginia University ","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book provides an extensive overview of many (if not most) of the relevant issues that would arise in the business law context.  In fact, due to the comprehensive nature of the book, some of the chapters may in fact be redundant and could be streamlined (for instance, many of the issues that arise in Chapters 9-13 relating to agreements, assent and, consideration, could also be covered within the context of Chapter 53 – Contracts).   One drawback is that the textbook does not appear to have  an index of any kind, which could be a significant drawback, particularly for those students who have no prior familiarity with either business or legal issues.  Similarly, while there is a list of “key terms” throughout the chapters, having all terms available within a glossary (in one place) would help with the readability of the model.  Perhaps, in the future, the authors would consider maintaining the key terms but then hyperlinking those terms back to a glossary (or vice versa).  The book also seems to place the right amount of emphasis on the subjects that business students would encounter more in their field – so there is a significant amount of information on corporate law and less information devoted to criminal law.  \n","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Although I am not an expert on every aspect of the legal environment, it seems that all of the information presented is accurate.  In those areas in which I have a specific expertise (business and securities laws) the information seems to be error-fee and accurate.  In addition, the information was presented in an objective way with no errors detected.  One thing that I would like the book to have included more often is relevant discussions regarding the ethics of a particular situation.  While the book does include a chapter on ethics (as well as having small discussion of ethics within some of the chapters) given the relevance of ethics to the average business graduate, I would have liked to have seen more ethics discussion (relating back to that foundational chapter) in each of the sections – as well as more self-test and exercises that cover them.\n","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The book seems largely relevant.  The challenge in a textbook of this magnitude is that the law, as a dynamic entity changes very quickly. Since the book’s original publication date in 2012, there are some aspects that have changed and that the book does not cover.  For instance, in the chapter on securities regulation, there have been significant developments in the areas of crowdfunding (that would be of particular interest to business students).  Since these occurred after 2012, the book does not mention those.  Similarly, there have been a big development in the law regarding hybrid businesses – specifically with the rise of benefit corporations (and, to a lesser extent LC3s).  The book mentions neither of these developments (although these were occurring during the original date of publication).  As such, a select update for certain aspects (rather than a complete new edition) would be recommended.\n","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The tone of the book is perfect for the type of student that will be using it.  The writing is clear. Complicated, technical concepts are explained in such a way that even those students with little background or familiarity can cover the information.  The hyperlink to glossary terms and definitions adds to the clarity (although it is unclear whether that feature would also be available in the PDF version) and allows readers to familiarize themselves with concepts without disrupting the overall flows of the book. \n","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework.  The same format is used throughout- for instance the sections are organized the same way. Exercises and self-tests are also consistent throughout.\n","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The textbook does an excellent job of allowing the different sections to be mixed and matched in a way that helps instructors.  When there are sections in the book that reference other sections, hyperlinks are provided that can facilitate the reader’s contextualization of a legal concept.  In addition, the sections within a chapter are presented in such a way that is not overwhelming for the reader.\n","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The organization of the book is generally easy to understand.  Many of the concepts in the book can be viewed in a “siloed” fashion (meaning each legal field can be examined individually as well as in a larger context) and the book does a good job of recognizing that. It is confusing that there are two separate sections (with several chapters in between) that both discuss contracts. The “Introduction to Contract law” is located in Chapter 8 and “Contracts” as a separate section is found in Chapter 53. This could easily have rectified by the authors by moving contracts topics all to the same section or for the instructor by assigning those chapters all at the same time.  \n\n","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The interface is largely appropriate for a book presented in this medium. All charts and textbox are clear and undistorted.  The textbook authors have hyperlinks to appropriate forms, terms and organizations.  They also include self-tests that benefit the students.  Given the digital medium of the book, I do feel that there were other opportunities that the authors could have taken advantage of for the benefit of the student (for instance, by having more interactive components – perhaps with the self-tests or the learning objectives) however, the content and method of interface as it stands now is perfectly adequate. \n","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I saw no grammatical errors in the book. The flow was easy and it seemed to have been proofed.  \n","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The book is written in a culturally relevant and sensitive way.  Particularly with international law related issues, the authors seem to acknowledge the varying ways that cultural disagreement can manifest itself (for instance in their acknowledgement regarding how to discuss Burma/Myanmar). In addition, the authors to a good job of moving slightly beyond the “American perspective” with regard to examining the foibles of the country. For instance, the authors, when discussing separatist issues (in the chapter on international law) use examples from North America (whereas many other resources would use examples from less develop countries).  The exercises presented in the book seem to be presented in a largely cultural neutral way (in that the authors discuss hypotheticals using many different gender roles, geographical locations and ethnic appellations – showing the diversity that is present in business and law issues).\n","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I think the book does an excellent job of presenting the material related to business students and the law in a clear and comprehensive fashion.  I would consider adopting this book for my students. ","created_at":"2016-12-05T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2016-12-05T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":1155,"first_name":"Jeanne","last_name":"Haser","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Rhode Island College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text is comprehensive and covers the broad topic of business law.  Only one area would require supplementation for my course, that is professional responsibility and ethics, and typically the area of \"Accountant's legal liability\"  As the course targets accounting students with the intent of taking the CPA exam, a section of accountant's legal liability and professional ethics would require supplementation. As most business law books on the market do not include this, I think it is fair to state the book is comprehensive and comparable to most texts available for our students through the various publishers.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Text was accurate and  I did not find it to be biased.  Any errors were minimal, i.e. typographical or spacing errors and were infrequent.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"I am reviewing in 2017, the copyright is 2012.  It did not seem dated or lacking in content, but I do wonder when it might be updated.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Many great examples were given, the points were made quickly and succinctly.  Law books necessarily contain a lot of jargon, but it was well explained in laymen's terms.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book was consistent in terminology and framework; , and authors were able to get major points across without excessive wording on a consistent basis.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"Book feels like it can be assembled in a  different order and without inclusion of all chapters to meet my needs in the course I would consider this book for.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Topics are presented in a typical order for business law.  The flow is clear and logical and well organized.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The text is free of distortion.  I think more visual stimulation in various forms might be good for a dry topic like business law.\nIt gets the job done, however.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The grammar was error free, at least no errors were apparent.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The book was culturally relevant.  Examples were sensitive, inclusive and well rounded.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I was pleasantly surprised to find an open textbook that was worthy of adoption for a business law class in our School of Management.  I had been skeptical about the quality of open texts, but was surprised to find materials that could be used and would save students a great deal of money.  It was on par with many of the expensive texts that I have used in the past or used in a supplemental fashion for my 400 level class.   \n\nI commend the authors for their hard work and commitment to creating an open textbook.  I do think that the book would benefit from some form of visual design to be more stimulating.  This is a topic that is not a real \"page turner\" and getting students to read is a challenge.  I would like to experiment and see if students can see the value of the open text.  I will need to see how I as a faculty can deal with the ancillaries or without the ancillaries that I am used to having with typical publisher textbooks.","created_at":"2017-04-11T19:00:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2017-04-11T19:00:00.000-05:00"},{"id":2947,"first_name":"Margaret","last_name":"Garcia","position":"Lecturer, J.D.","institution_name":"Metropolitan State University of Denver","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text offers a comprehensive introduction to business law and the U.S. legal system.  The discrete elements of each component of our laws are readily assignable to create a course of study focused on any particular aspect of business law chosen by the instructor.   Generally, the letter and spirit of the law are well explained and, through the end-of-chapter exercises, students are encouraged to apply their knowledge to real-life situations.  Unfortunately, the text does not feature a glossary of legal terms. A summary of key words/phrases and a link to a reputable legal dictionary at the end of each chapter would better facilitate a student’s understanding and use of the language of law.         ","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Explanations of the principles of law were accurate.  Consequently, it offers a solid foundational education for a survey course.  However, the text was published in 2012; instructors will need to supplement the course with current case law / statutes.  The efficacy of this course could be maintained by an instructor's assignment to investigate a contemporary state statute or by directing students to the Oyez Project at Chicago-Kent; it is a multimedia archive devoted to the Supreme Court of the United States and its work. It aims to be a complete and authoritative source for all audio recorded in the Court since the installation of a recording system in October 1955. The Project also provides authoritative information on all justices and offers a virtual reality tour of portions of the Supreme Court building, including the chambers of some of the justices.  ","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The cited case law serves the basic purpose of a first-level survey course:  it provides an historical context and tracks the consistency of or changes made up to the early 21st Century.  But, again, instructors will need to update the law with contemporary cases and statutes.  For example, while the content on Alternative Dispute Resolution (Chapter 3) clearly delineates the options available there is no reference to the 2018 Supreme Court ruling that companies can use arbitration clauses in employment contracts to prohibit workers from banding together to take legal action over workplace issues – an important business law issue!","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text will easily guide a layperson through a survey of the law.  The narrative is well written without any attempt to dazzle (confuse) the reader with the authors’ \"higher\" knowledge.  Many legal “terms of art” are succinctly explained either by way of a pop-up balloon or through a narrative.   However, by the end of the chapter, a student may be overwhelmed by this first introduction to the language of law.  A list of key terms / phrases incorporated into the end-of-chapter summary, with a link to a legal dictionary, would reinforce the knowledge gained.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Each area of law is presented in a consistent and reliable format:  an introduction, providing an historical context and tracking the subsequent development of the law; discrete topics introducing the elements of the law; sample cases explaining the rationale for the application of the law; a summary of the key principles; and exercises / self-tests encouraging the student to demonstrate the knowledge gained.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text would be easily and readily divisible to focus on a particular course of study on the discrete aspects of business law that can be reasonably studied in a 16 or fewer week course of study.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"Students are first introduced to the organizational structure of the U.S. legal system and key components of the sources of law.  They are then well positioned to understand the confines of and freedoms available for the application of the law.   I would, however, realign two topics:  Agency (Chapters 38-39) should be immediately followed by Employment Law (Chapters 50-51) as the latter is a natural subset of the former.  Also, Chapter 53, Contracts, replicates the comprehensive devotion of 12 earlier chapters to contract law and the UCC (Chapters 8-19).","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"Technically, there were no problems with the links and the charts were clear.  However, the learning experience would be significantly enhanced by the addition of more detailed charts summarizing the narrative.  For example, students should see a flow chart of how a bill becomes a law, and they should have a visual comparison of the formation/duration/management/liability/transferability/taxation implications of the different business forms.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The narrative is exceptionally well written.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"Generally, the presentation of law is inclusive, particularly with the introductory worldwide examples of legal and political systems, and inoffensive.  There is, however, some bias in the historical review of civil rights law (Chapter 50).  That recounting should be more balanced; the good/bad/ugly of both liberals and conservatives should be recognized; let the students reach their own conclusion.  Further, the 2012 publication focuses on African Americans and fails to include contemporary legal issues involving other racial/ethnic groups; moreover, the text omits the increasing conflict of rights (e.g. sexual orientation vs. religious freedom).","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2019-05-24T04:43:45.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-05-24T04:43:45.000-05:00"},{"id":3312,"first_name":"Barbara","last_name":"Molargik-Fitch","position":"Adjunct Professor","institution_name":"Trine University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The chapters covered in this textbook offer a comprehensive overview of Business Law. I love that this textbook includes a chapter on insurance which is such an important risk management concept to understand in the business world. Other Business Law textbooks I have used have not covered insurance, so I appreciated this addition. ","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Overall, the content was pretty good. However, in the PDF version of the textbook I noticed that Chapter 53 (Contracts) was missing.  It is in the table of contents but not the PDF.  Also, some of the review questions at the end need double checked. I noticed some of the question numbers were missing from the questions. This will help the students correspond the question to the correct answer.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The textbook seems relevant and up-to-date.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The textbook is written in a clear and lucid manner.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text seems to be consistent in terms of terminology and framework.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Textbook is easily divisible to assign readings each week.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Chapters are presented in a logical and clear fashion.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The textbook is pretty organized. However, in some places there are minor formatting issues.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The textbook seems to use proper grammar and spelling.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The textbook does not seem to be culturally insensitive or offensive in any way. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"There did not appear to be many instructor resources that come with this book such as PowerPoints, instructor manual, and a test bank.","created_at":"2019-11-23T10:25:01.000-06:00","updated_at":"2019-11-23T10:25:01.000-06:00"},{"id":3340,"first_name":"Jennifer","last_name":"Lehman","position":"Assistant Professor of Financial Planning","institution_name":"George Fox University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text is comprehensive, in that there are 53 chapters that cover what one would expect a business law text to cover, including intellectual property, real property, and bankruptcy. There is no index or glossary. A table of cases would be helpful too, or a list of them in the table of contents for easy navigation from the online version of the text. There is a nice table of contents.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The text seems to be accurate, error-free and unbiased. ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"While the text is not brand new, it includes many of the classic cases, especially with regard to the commerce clause being applied to civil rights. So, unless the US Supreme Court breaks from long established precedent, the cases should continue to be valid for years to come. And, why not study the seminal cases? The text includes some \"newer\" cases such as Citizens United that make an important mark on the legal landscape. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is clearly written, with terms explained. While there are case questions after each case, I would like to see more of an introduction and conclusion around the cases. I worry a bit that undergraduate students not accustomed to reading a lot may get lost in the cases. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The framework is consistent. There are learning objectives, subsections, key takeaways, and in some chapters after cases there are summaries, exercises, and self-test questions with answers provided. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"There are lots of fairly short chapters, with sections and subsections clearly marked. This is easier to divide than a book with 15 or 16 really long chapters. In addition, it would be easy to just cover particular sections and cases, especially with the table of contents navigation in the online version of the text. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Chapter 8 is introduction to contract law, and then there are separate chapters on the agreement, real assent, consideration, remedies (e.g. requirements to have a valid contract), and then chapter 53, the very last chapter, is about contracts. It's a nice way to decide whether to cover several contract chapters, or boil it down and use one chapter. I'm not sure why the comprehensive contract chapter was put at the very end, but I do like the option of quicker coverage. ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Navigation worked very well, table of contents in online version was very useful and user friendly. I like the self-test questions as a comprehension check for students. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not notice any grammatical errors in the text. ","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"While I might need to skip the Playboy case at a Christian institution, the text appears thoughtful and inclusive overall. Unions, employment discrimination, and civil rights as applied to the commerce clause are all discussed in the text. In addition, the examples use a variety of names from around the world and not just European sounding names like Mike and Elizabeth. ","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I know it's open source, so do not mean to be greedy - but a test bank, and power point slides, for the instructor would be incredibly helpful. ","created_at":"2019-12-02T20:16:29.000-06:00","updated_at":"2019-12-02T20:16:29.000-06:00"},{"id":34573,"first_name":"Kelli","last_name":"Rodriguez Currie","position":"Director of MLS \u0026 Sports Law","institution_name":"Seattle University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"Exceptional breadth of content in every area of law intersecting with business.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Accurate and precise.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Text is incredibly relevant.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Clear and efficient.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Consistent layout and format.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Table of Contents and headings are very clear.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Organized in discrete units so one could easily adapt.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"A bit text-dense, but the formatting breaks things up nicely.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No noticeable issues.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Incredibly relevant and culturally aware.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2023-05-23T22:33:14.000-05:00","updated_at":"2023-05-23T22:33:14.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/business-law-and-the-legal-environment","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:01:56.000-06:00"},{"id":789,"title":"Business Law I Essentials","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2019,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":"","accessibility_features":[],"description":"Business Law I Essentials is a brief introductory textbook designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of courses on Business Law or the Legal Environment of Business. The concepts are presented in a streamlined manner, and cover the key concepts necessary to establish a strong foundation in the subject. The textbook follows a traditional approach to the study of business law. Each chapter contains learning objectives, explanatory narrative and concepts, references for further reading, and end-of-chapter questions. Business Law I Essentials may need to be supplemented with additional content, cases, or related materials, and is offered as a foundational resource that focuses on the baseline concepts, issues, and approaches.","contributors":[{"id":5003,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Mirande","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Valbrune","location":null,"background_text":"Mirande Valbrune"},{"id":5004,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Renee","middle_name":null,"last_name":"De Assis","location":"Texas Woman's University","background_text":"Renee De Assis"},{"id":5005,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Suzanne","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Cardell","location":"University of Massachusetts Dartmouth","background_text":"Suzanne Cardell, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth"}],"subjects":[{"id":67,"name":"Administrative Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"K3400","visible_textbooks_count":14,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/administrative-law"},{"id":62,"name":"Civil Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"K623","visible_textbooks_count":26,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/law-civil-law"},{"id":68,"name":"Constitutional Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"K3154","visible_textbooks_count":19,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/constitutional-law"},{"id":64,"name":"Contract Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"K7265","visible_textbooks_count":25,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/environmental-law"},{"id":63,"name":"Criminal Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"KB3790","visible_textbooks_count":20,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/criminal-law"},{"id":11,"name":"Law","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"KF385.A4","visible_textbooks_count":99,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/law"},{"id":66,"name":"Property Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"K7200","visible_textbooks_count":22,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/property-law"}],"publishers":[{"id":768,"url":"https://openstax.org/details/books/business-law-i-essentials?Book%20details","year":null,"created_at":"2019-10-26T22:08:33.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-10-26T22:08:33.000-05:00","name":"OpenStax"}],"formats":[{"id":1356,"type":"Online","url":"https://openstax.org/details/books/business-law-i-essentials?Book%20details","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":"978-1-947172-78-4"},{"id":1357,"type":"PDF","url":"https://openstax.org/details/books/business-law-i-essentials?Book%20details","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":"978-1-947172-78-4"}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":5,"reviews":[{"id":3355,"first_name":"Chelsea","last_name":"Green","position":"Assistant Clinical Professor","institution_name":"Miami University","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"Even though this text is an \"essentials\" text, there are certain topics that are missing from the text that I would expect to find in a basic legal environments textbook.  These include topics such as 1) Real, Personal, and Intellectual Property; 2) Negotiable Instruments and Banking; 3) Secured Transactions and Bankruptcy; 4) Agency and Liabilities to Third Parties; and 5)  Business Organizations.  The text includes both a table of contents and an index.  It would be nice to see a glossary and the US Constitution in the back.  The material included is fairly basic and doesn't explore the topics with adequate depth.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"I am not finding inaccurate information, however, both sides of various topics are not included such as the free market argument that those arguing for corporate social responsibility would normally face.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"Most of the book covers foundation material that will timeless.  However, there are a number of links to supporting information located on the web that could become obsolete.  This text also lacks examples of the law from trial cases, which may increase the longevity of the text, however, this trait also leads to the shallower coverage of the topics.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The book is easy to read and provides user-friendly vocabulary for a non-lawyer.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The text is internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework.  Again, if provides basic information regarding the legal topics covered.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"This text is easily read and could be divided up cleanly.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The organization of the material is logical and clear.  There is good use of headings and visual breaks for the reader.  The end of the chapters provide simple multiple choice questions for a learner to test themselves.  There is not a summary provided at the end of the chapter which is common with standard texts.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"I did not find any interface issues related to this text.  ","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"I did not find any grammatical errors that would stand out to a learner and distract from the content.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"There are few examples in this text on which to judge its culturally insensitivity.  The images included in the text illustrate a diverse group of participants in the law.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"The images included in this book seem to be inserted only to take up space.  Images in a law text can be very helpful for the non-learner by providing comparisons and flowcharts to simplify concepts.  Consider using more meaningful images to support the text and provide the textual information in a different way.","created_at":"2019-12-06T16:24:03.000-06:00","updated_at":"2019-12-06T16:24:03.000-06:00"},{"id":3403,"first_name":"Steve","last_name":"Custer","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Oakland City University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book covered the major aspects inherent to the legal landscape of business.  Its subject matter is well referenced and provided a solid vocabulary of terms.  Particularly, the content offered an informative section on negotiation skills and tactics that I would recommend.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Upon inspection, this reviewer found the book to be accurate, without errors, and neutral in its presentation.  ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This reviewer found the text to be timely and informative.  Specifically, chapter 7 (contract law) provided some excellent real-world examples that should be incorporated into classroom discussions.  ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book is well formatted which should enable the entry level business law student to excel in their learning and comprehension of broad based legal definitions.  ","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The text is largely consistent, although the authors elected to provide more examples and tables to illustrate concepts in the latter chapters of the text than in the former chapters.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The chapters of this text were well assembled and concise.  I would not hesitate to adopt portions alongside other material in the classroom.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The topics were presented in a clear fashion and were easy to understand.  ","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"No interface issues were noted, but when compared with other resources, additional content seemed lacking at times.  ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors were found during this review.  ","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Upon inspection, this reviewer did not notice any insensitive or offensive material in this text.  ","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"There are a plethora of business law texts available in the marketplace.  Whatever resources one chooses to adopt, the Business Law Essentials text could certainly be utilized as an effective supplement in the classroom.  ","created_at":"2019-12-19T12:11:58.000-06:00","updated_at":"2019-12-19T12:11:58.000-06:00"},{"id":3792,"first_name":"Paolo Davide","last_name":"Farah","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"West Virginia University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The reviewer believes that text covers all areas and ideas of the subject appropriately. The title of the book is Business Law I Essentials, so the expectation is that there might be the need to prepare a Business Law II Essential for the areas, which are missing from the analysis. In fact, my interpretation and understanding is that this book selects some of the most important issues in the areas, but it is also focusing on what it can be virtually possible to cover in a single class module. In fact, 14 sections/chapters are equivalent to a 14-week class. I believe that this textbook is useful for a first clear introduction to beginners and then students can complement with the constitution, the case law, case studies, simulations and other relevant real life examples and experiences.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The reviewer considers that the content of the book is accurate. The selection of topics is also relevant. Particularly, the corporate social responsibility is an area not covered by all business law textbooks. Generally, other business law textbooks cover predominantly the market oriented analysis and not sufficiently the limits to globalization and the business sector represented by the necessary balance between business and human rights, business and sustainable development, business and other non-commercial values. I would probably extend some parts to also cover corporate governance","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The reviewer considers that the book covers relevant contemporary issues without risks for the longevity of the book. The case studies are useful to students to learn from practice.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"As previously mentioned, the text is clear and organized in such a way that is easy to access for students that will approach these topics for the first time. The instructor can use the single chapters as the main topic for each of the classes complementing this book with cases and other additional readings. The terminology and the language is accessible to students and non-experts.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The text is internally consistent, but I believe the pictures are not a relevant addition to the textbook. It would be advisable that the author revises the textbook to use pictures that are actually relevant for the analysis of each of the sections.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Each chapter can be used as an individual section for class modules and lectures complemented with additional materials.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The topics in the text were presented clearly.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text does not present any interface, but it necessitates some external materials to cover some aspects. In addition, the pictures are not representative of the contents of the textbook.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The reviewer did not detect grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"During the review, no culturally insensitive remarks or offensive statements have been detected in any way.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I will use this book for one of my classes.","created_at":"2020-05-01T21:46:18.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-05-01T21:46:18.000-05:00"},{"id":4276,"first_name":"Ben","last_name":"Carr","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"James Madison University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text was comprehensive in general, to some extent too much so, and with regards to a few topics that I consider critical topics for a business course, completely lacking. First, as to the “too much”. There were some legal subjects which were unnecessary and seemingly used to take up space. For example, I do not know how or why any student not in law school would need to know about “res ipsa loquitur” (note: it was spelled incorrectly in the text). It is not a practical topic area and only lawyers would need to understand that concept. Another example was the Ethical Decision Making Policies. Despite putting it in the text, there was no discussion about the decision making process beyond just replicating the University of Michigan policy that was quoted. So, in this case, it did not even need to be included, and if so, it merited further discussion. There were a few other subjects dealt with similarly, but those did not necessarily detract from the overall value of the text itself.\r\n\tAs for the “lacking” comment, it is surprising that a text on Business Law (even if it is an introduction) does not include a chapter on business entities. Corporations, LLCs, Partnerships (general and limited) and sole proprietorships are significant topics which deserve discussion and explanation. Also, there was no mention of vicarious liability. Respondeat Superior, principal/agent and partnerships are three legal areas where an employer/third party who is not directly involved in a specific incident can/may be held responsible to an injured party due solely to the relationship between that employer/third party and the person causing the injury.\r\n\tThe section on ethics was also failed to address professional ethics vs. personal ethics. How those two interact on a daily basis, especially with regards to corporate decisions is an important topic to discuss. For example, Hobby Lobby refused to comply with an Affordable Care Act requirement that medical insurance provided by employers include contraceptives. An employee filed suit, and the U.S. Supreme Court had to ultimately decide the issue. That was a personal value/ethic that the owners of Hobby Lobby (it was privately owned) utilized instead of a “professional” value/ethic.\r\n\tThe criminal law section did not address battery and how it was technically different from assault. This is not a critical issue in business law, but if the author(s) were going to address assault, then battery should have also been addressed.\r\n\tThe ADR section should have, in my opinion, considered the benefits of an employee agreeing to a pre-employment waiver of the right to trial. Many employers are now either requiring, or at least making it optional, for an employee to waive that right. The consequences of doing so are important and deserve some coverage.\r\n\tThe sections on both sexual harassment and negligence were far too superficial and short. These are two areas of significant corporate liability exposure and lawsuit filings. Neither received the type of attention which they deserved. \r\n        Lastly, I am a big fan of hypotheticals. In this reviewer's opinion, there were not enough of those, especially not enough real-world cases used as tools to explain a concept.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The content was generally accurate with some nit-picking on my part. For example, the author(s) stated that most states do not allow minors to void a contract after turning 18 years of age. It is my understanding that most states actually allow for a “reasonable” time after turning 18 for a minor to void a contract unless that minor has somehow ratified or affirmed the contract after turning 18. Also, comparative vs. contributory negligence was not handled as deftly as it could have been. First, there are two types of comparative negligence, which was not discussed, and second, it is solely dependent upon which state in which the incident occurs as to whether comparative negligence (either type) or contributory negligence will be utilized in a legal analysis.\r\n\tAnother nit-picking on my part deals with a few minor mischaracterizations and/or inadequate information. An example of that is when the author(s) discuss the McDonald’s case involving the hot coffee. A significant issue in the case was punitive damages, because McDonald’s knew that their coffee was too hot and had made the “business” decision to not change the temperature. To simply use the case as a “negligence” example misses the primary point of that case.\r\n\tYet another nit-picking was that when the author(s) discussed Title VII, they did not point out that there are employee limits to the application of that Title. For example, Title VII’s prohibition against discriminating against a person with a disability does not apply to an entity with fewer than 15 employees, while the prohibition against discriminating against age does not apply to an entity with fewer than 20 employees. This is important, because state laws can lower those thresholds and readers need to be ultra aware of checking both the federal and state law protections. There were other nuances that the author(s) did not mention which would be valuable as instruction, such as with sexual harassment.\r\n\tIn sum, the text was relatively comprehensive, and would be most useful to an instructor with legal experience who could utilize it in a very, very basic, almost vocabulary level, manner. It says that it is “Essentials”, but there are some essentials, which I have addressed, that I feel should have been included. Assuming that it is intended solely as a very basic introduction, that is where its value can be found. Otherwise, an instructor trying to utilize the text without a sound legal understanding to begin with will find that it will raise many questions that students may ask which he/she will not be prepared to answer or explain and/or even convey information which may be incorrectly applied.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Due to its very basic manner of addressing virtually all the topics, the content is up-to-date in its content. Without further exploration of the topics in the text, i.e. Essentials II, the text is only marginally useful as a text for practical legal considerations on its own.\r\nThe text is written and/or arranged in such a way that necessary updates will be relatively easy and straightforward to implement.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text was written in a way that most would understand. There were a few times when I had to re-read a sentence or paragraph and use my own understanding to have the passage make sense. Again, it is important that whoever uses the text already have a legal background.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text was consistent in terms of terminology and framework.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"Due to the nature of law itself, the text is marginally susceptible to being divided up into different sections at different points. To stress, that is not the author(s) issue, that is the nature of the beast. There has to be some scaffolding in law with certain concepts being taught/learned in order. In terms of its comparison to other legal texts in this topical area, I would strongly guess that it is pretty consistent and does as well as it can except for one suggestion that I will give in the following review area.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Section 5.2 seemed to me to be out of place. It would be far better suited if placed either in chapter 1 or as its own chapter between chapters 1 and 2. Otherwise, the topics in the text are presented in a logical, clear fashion.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I had no problems with the interface or with navigating through the text. Everything was clear and I did not discern any distractions or confusions to the reader.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I am not an English major, but I did not notice any grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text is not culturally insensitive or offensive in any way. \r\nI would, however, suggest that the cultural events since the text was published would justify a supplement. More discussion of Title VII and the sex, race and color classes would be appropriate.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I think the goals of this text were laudable, but fell just a little short of my expectations. At times, it seemed as though someone other than an attorney or someone familiar with law was writing it, and was just cutting and pasting without a practical understanding of what was being written. That may be due more to a goal to just give some \"essentials\" to supplement the in classroom teaching of an instructor with some legal knowledge or experience.","created_at":"2020-07-30T18:36:15.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-07-30T18:36:15.000-05:00"},{"id":34987,"first_name":"Velda","last_name":"Arnaud","position":"Department Chair, Instructor, and Advisor","institution_name":"Blue Mountain Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"All of the topics we need for our business law course are covered in this OER.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Some topics need to be updated because this information is 5 years old.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"As previously stated, laws change, and this book is 5 years old.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The reading level may be difficult for non-native English language students.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Each chapter is nicely organized.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This is one of the best features.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The content flows very well and ends with international law and securities.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"All of the information is on the website, and I would prefer to keep students in the learning management system.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"So far, I have not found grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This is a business course, and they use many different examples. It seems quite representative of the population.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"There is a low-cost printed book available for students.","created_at":"2024-04-05T13:57:52.000-05:00","updated_at":"2024-04-05T13:57:52.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/business-law-i-essentials","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:16:58.000-06:00"},{"id":117,"title":"Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2014,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-ShareAlike","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"This series of Federal Rules books, consisting of the Federal Rules of Evidence, Criminal Procedure and Civil Procedure, are powered by the Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School, and created in partnership with The Center for Computer-Assisted Legal Instruction (CALI).These rules govern the conduct of all criminal proceedings brought in Federal courts. Our Federal Rules ebooks include: The complete rules as of December 1, 2012 (for the 2013 edition). All notes of the Advisory Committee following each rule. Internal links to rules referenced within the rules. External links to the LII website's version of the US Code.","contributors":[{"id":3814,"contribution":"Editor","primary":true,"corporate":true,"title":null,"first_name":"Legal Information Institute","middle_name":null,"last_name":null,"location":"Cornell Law School","background_text":"Legal Information Institute at Cornell Law School"}],"subjects":[{"id":63,"name":"Criminal Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"KB3790","visible_textbooks_count":20,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/criminal-law"},{"id":65,"name":"Procedural Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"KBP1572","visible_textbooks_count":12,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/contract-law"},{"id":11,"name":"Law","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"KF385.A4","visible_textbooks_count":99,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/law"}],"publishers":[{"id":232,"url":"http://www.cali.org/books/federal-rules-criminal-procedure-2015","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:38.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:38.000-05:00","name":"CALI's eLangdell® Press"}],"formats":[{"id":96,"type":"PDF","url":"http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11785/162","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":1643,"type":"eBook","url":"http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11785/162","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":1869,"type":"MS Word","url":"http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11785/162","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":1,"reviews":[{"id":35667,"first_name":"Caleb","last_name":"Pennington","position":"Assistant Teaching Professor","institution_name":"University of Wisconsin-Superior","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text provides a comprehensive list of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The Table of Contents at the front of the text is organized and easy to understand.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The information in this text is accurate. Most of the text presents the federal rules, so there is little room for scholarly discretion by the authors.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"This version was published in 2013, so some of the Federal Rules have changed since its publication. In particular, the sections on Criminal Forfeiture and Computing and Extending Time are no longer accurate.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"Because this text is merely a presentation of the federal statutes, it contains quite a bit of legal jargon. I think students would struggle to read those pages without detailed context from the instructor.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is very well organized and consistent.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Following the model set by the rules themselves, the text is organized into 9 modules. Those modules are distinct by subject matter. Within those modules, the text is broken up into anywhere from 4-12 rules.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The text is well organized and corresponds with the table of contents.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I did not experience any issues with the text interface or navigation. It should be noted that there aren't any graphs or images in this text. But the text itself is easy to read and well formatted.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I noticed no grammatical errors in this text.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Because the text leaves little room for commentary, there is no issue of cultural insensitivity.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I think this is a well-done open source text, though its usefulness may be limited by the subject matter. This text is a published collection of the Rules of Federal Criminal Procedure. As such, it contains almost no commentary or analysis by the authors. These rules are also fairly inaccessible to a lay or undergraduate audience, so an instructor would need to make sure that they are providing the context for each rule that they cover. With that being said, I think this text may be helpful as a supplementary primary source reader. This is the kind of text that can be helpful in a Criminal Procedure class, but not so absolutely necessary that I would assign it as a traditional textbook. As such, an OER resource is the perfect way to provide this information to your class, though an updated version would be preferred.","created_at":"2025-11-10T08:21:56.000-06:00","updated_at":"2025-11-10T08:21:56.000-06:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/federal-rules-of-criminal-procedure","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:21:40.000-06:00"},{"id":129,"title":"Foundations of Business Law and Legal Environment","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2012,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"Mayer, Warner, Siedel and Lieberman's Foundations of Business Law and the Legal Environment is an up-to-date textbook with comprehensive coverage of legal and regulatory issues for your introductory Legal Environment or Business Law course. The text is organized to permit instructors to tailor the materials to their particular approach. The authors take special care to engage students by relating law to everyday events with which they are already familiar with their clear, concise and readable style. Business Law and the Legal Environment provides students with context and essential concepts across a broad range of legal issues with which managers and business executives must grapple. The text provides the vocabulary and legal savvy necessary for business people to talk in an educated way to their customers, employees, suppliers, government officials — and to their own lawyers.","contributors":[{"id":2371,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Don","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Mayer","location":"University of Denver","background_text":"Don Mayer now teaches law, ethics, public policy, and sustainability at the Daniels College of Business, University of Denver, where he is Professor in Residence. His research focuses on the role of business in creating a more just, sustainable, peaceful and productive world. With James O'Toole, Professor Mayer has co-edited and contributed content to Good Business: Exercising Effective \u0026 Ethical Leadership (Routledge: Taylor and Francis, 2010). He is also co-author of International Business Law: Cases and Materials, in its 5th edition with Pearson Publishing Co. He recently served as the first Arsht Visiting Ethics Scholar at the University of Miami. After attending Kenyon College (philosophy) and Duke University Law School, Professor Mayer served as a \"JAG officer\" with the United States Air Force during the Vietnam conflict, and went to private practice in North Carolina. He went to Washington D.C. in 1984 to attend Georgetown University Law Center, where he earned his LL.M. in International and Comparative law in 1985. He began an academic career in 1985 at Western Carolina University, and was a full professor at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan for many years before coming to the University of Denver. He has taught as a visitor at California State Polytechnic University, the University of Michigan, the Manchester Business School Worldwide, and Antwerp Management School. Professor Mayer has won numerous awards from the Academy of Legal Studies in Business, including the Hoeber Award for best article in the American Business Law Journal, twice won the Maurer Award for best article on business ethics, and three times won the Ralph Bunch Award for best article on international business law. His work has been published in many journals and law reviews, but most often in American Business Law Journal, the Journal of Business Ethics, and the Business Ethics Quarterly."}],"subjects":[{"id":2,"name":"Business","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"HF5001","visible_textbooks_count":144,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/business"},{"id":67,"name":"Administrative Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"K3400","visible_textbooks_count":14,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/administrative-law"},{"id":62,"name":"Civil Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"K623","visible_textbooks_count":26,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/law-civil-law"},{"id":68,"name":"Constitutional Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"K3154","visible_textbooks_count":19,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/constitutional-law"},{"id":64,"name":"Contract Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"K7265","visible_textbooks_count":25,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/environmental-law"},{"id":63,"name":"Criminal Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"KB3790","visible_textbooks_count":20,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/criminal-law"},{"id":11,"name":"Law","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"KF385.A4","visible_textbooks_count":99,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/law"}],"publishers":[{"id":67,"url":"http://www.saylor.org/site/textbooks/Foundations%20of%20Business%20Law%20and%20the%20Legal%20Environment.pdf","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:36.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:36.000-05:00","name":"Saylor Foundation"}],"formats":[{"id":254,"type":"PDF","url":"http://www.saylor.org/site/textbooks/Foundations%20of%20Business%20Law%20and%20the%20Legal%20Environment.pdf","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":255,"type":"Online","url":"https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_foundations-of-business-law-and-the-legal-environment/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":2,"reviews":[{"id":356,"first_name":"Jason","last_name":"Roberts","position":"Instructor","institution_name":"Portland Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"Appropriately comprehensive for a lower undergraduate course in the subject. One noticeable omission is any serious discussion of intellectual property issues (patent, trademark and copyright) each of which likely merit a section of their own in a text like this. ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"As a broad based overview of the subject, the book is accurate throughout. It largely avoids delving into nuanced concepts, or applications of law specific to limited jurisdictions, areas likely to be volatile. An instructor should expect to supplement materials with information that is relevant for jurisdictions they are teaching in, or significant recent developments.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Content deals largely with broad principles of business law, and avoids treatments of specific cases or rulings. As such it is likely to remain relevant. Since the book is organized into discrete topic units, content areas requiring updates can be easily updated.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Prose is straightforward, suitably readable for a lower undergraduate course. New terminology is defined, and examples are frequently provided.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Each chapter and section is consistent in terms of structure. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Book is made up of 32 chapters, each on a discrete topic. Within each chapter are sections that are prefaced by a \"Learning Takeaways: summary, and conclude with \"Key Takeaways\" and exercises. As such this book could easily be used in a course that was a broad overview at an undergraduate level of business law, or as a text that was a smaller in-depth look at particular topics. Individual sections would be excellent supplementary materials for other courses, where relevant, as well. Chapter 30: Employment Law in an HR course, or chapters 20 to 23 on business entity choices in a general business course for example.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The only odd choice made by the other was to place the chapters dealing business entity types in the middle of the text.  Given that so many other topics stem from this, it would seem to be more logical and intuitive to place this as one of the earliest matters discussed.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"Note that the pdf version does not have a table of contents included.  This is a minor navigational annoyance. Otherwise the interface is solid.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No noticeable grammar errors, or other linguistic issues.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"Book is neither culturally offensive or insensitive. That being said, hypothetical examples do not use a wide range of individuals with different backgrounds. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2016-01-07T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2016-01-07T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":4126,"first_name":"Elizabeth","last_name":"Nowakowski","position":"Associate Professor, Paralegal  \u0026 Legal Studies","institution_name":"Bristol Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"I have been using parts of this book in multiple classes where I teach using OER. I use some of the foundation chapters in my \"Introduction to Legal Studies\" class and I use more advanced chapters in my \"Business Organizations for Paralegal\" course.  I like this book because it offers a very comprehensive coverage of each topic. I really appreciate the cases and exercises that come at the end of the chapters, which I often use as well. ok.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I found the content to be accurate.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The content is relevant and not needing any supplementing.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Students have commented that the book is easy to follow.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The text is consistent throughout the book.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I like the  interface and the way the book is laid out. I can links to particular chapters without sharing the entire book.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The material is very well organized within the chapters.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The click throughs within the books and chapters are very helpful.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I haven't seen any typos or grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text is culturally sensitive.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"This book can be used in different ways - either in its entirety in a Business Law class (where the instructor would still have to pick and choose the material to cover) or, as I have done, use individual chapters in a OER class where materials from various sources are used throughout the semester.","created_at":"2020-06-29T08:31:31.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-06-29T08:31:31.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/foundations-of-business-law-and-legal-environment","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:01:51.000-06:00"},{"id":877,"title":"Fundamentals of Business Law","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2020,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"Undergraduate business law textbook written by Melissa Randall and Community College of Denver Students in collaboration with lawyers and business professionals for use in required 200 level business law courses in the United States. This book is an introductory survey of the legal topics required in undergraduate business law classes.","contributors":[{"id":5221,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Melissa","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Randall","location":"Community College of Denver","background_text":"Melissa Randall, Community College of Denver"},{"id":5222,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Community College of Denver","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Students","location":"Community College of Denver","background_text":"Community College of Denver Students"}],"subjects":[{"id":67,"name":"Administrative Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"K3400","visible_textbooks_count":14,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/administrative-law"},{"id":62,"name":"Civil Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"K623","visible_textbooks_count":26,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/law-civil-law"},{"id":68,"name":"Constitutional Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"K3154","visible_textbooks_count":19,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/constitutional-law"},{"id":64,"name":"Contract Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"K7265","visible_textbooks_count":25,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/environmental-law"},{"id":63,"name":"Criminal Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"KB3790","visible_textbooks_count":20,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/criminal-law"},{"id":11,"name":"Law","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"KF385.A4","visible_textbooks_count":99,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/law"},{"id":66,"name":"Property Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"K7200","visible_textbooks_count":22,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/property-law"}],"publishers":[{"id":856,"url":"https://introductiontobusinesslaw.pressbooks.com/","year":2020,"created_at":"2020-07-07T13:53:10.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-07-07T13:53:39.000-05:00","name":"Melissa Randall"}],"formats":[{"id":1534,"type":"Online","url":"https://introductiontobusinesslaw.pressbooks.com/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":1535,"type":"PDF","url":"https://digital.auraria.edu/AA00007386/00001/downloads","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":1536,"type":"MS Word","url":"http://digital.auraria.edu/AA00007386/00001/downloads","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4","textbook_reviews_count":2,"reviews":[{"id":4643,"first_name":"Cynthia","last_name":"Gayton","position":"Professorial Lecturer of Engineering Law","institution_name":"The George Washington University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book covered a lot of legal ground and I think it would be useful as a reference to not only those interested in business law, but other fields as well.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"I did find some areas in the book that did indicate biases in the form of what \"should\" be the legal landscape as well as the national governance history (1.2) and if it could be tied to problems businesses may have if trying to operate their businesses under different legal regimes, I think that would have been useful.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Most of the subjects and legal guidance will stand the test of time. The more volatile areas (labor law, IP, products liability) may evolve more quickly, but generally I think the fundamentals are sound.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The text is written in accessible prose. The book does have a more \"lawyerly\" tone than I expected, but it was not overwhelming.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"I did find repetition in some places - particularly with regard to how the legal system is structured (separation of powers, as well as court system) in the United States and the several places the Constitution was discussed in similar terms as well as international law. I did find myself going back to see whether I had already read a page or saw a graphic more than once.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"For modularity purposes, then my comment above regarding \"consistency\" may not be applicable. If it is intended to be modular, then that clarifies what I thought was repetitive. I definitely think that a syllabus could be pulled cleanly from different sections to address issues as they are needed over a course.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The chapters are presented in a logical, clear fashion. I did find for myself that I was expecting a discussion about something that didn't - for example, I was expecting a discussion about business/professional ethics, which I didn't find.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"Generally, the interface was good. There were a few tables that did not appear completely on the page.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not notice any glaring grammatical errors.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The text is not culturally insensitive, however, when referring to conditions in other countries, I think it would have been useful to link the cultural/legal differences to how businesses should engage legally and responsibly in other countries.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"Something that stood out was that there were direct quotes from people - but their full names were not provided. I am not sure why that was - and it was a little confusing - was it an effort to hide someone's identity? If that is the case, I'm not sure why the person was quoted at all if not an authority on the subject for which they were being quoted.\r\nThe book was legal procedure and practice heavy at the beginning of the book. Because Chapter 1 indicated that the book was intended to help navigate business dealings, the emphasis on what law students would usually study to become lawyers, may confuse people who want to know legal nuts and bolts for operating a business. It would come in handy as a reference if a business got into trouble!","created_at":"2021-02-24T19:09:38.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-02-24T19:09:38.000-06:00"},{"id":33933,"first_name":"Marcus","last_name":"Ellison","position":"Adjunct Faculty","institution_name":"Trine University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The textbook covers a wide variety of general legal areas. It is appropriate for a college-level business law course though it has many chapters that are not business-focused but instead could fit in a generally broad undergraduate legal survey class.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The text is accurate and does a good job of clearly addressing each of the identified objectives listed at the beginning of each chapter. If you are skimming the text those objectives do a good job of telling you what that chapter will be about and what it will cover.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"This textbook generally covers broad-based legal principles and historical legal traditions that are timeless and each chapter for the most part covers a different area of the law and can stand alone. There is a section of a few chapters in a row that cover contracts and another few in a row that covers business formation and operations, but most chapters can stand alone. This makes it easy for someone teaching who wants to use this text to only have students read chapters that are relevant to what the class will cover. Some topics that are covered are subject to more frequent and regular changes in the law so care will have to be considered for those areas.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The text is written for an undergraduate student level, it is not overly full of legalese or something you would see used in a law school course. The text is most likely for business students or those seeking a course that will provide a basic legal overview. I would not expect it to be used in a paralegal-oriented course, however.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The book is consistent in how it lays things out and in style, tone, and demeanor. The content is primarily text-based but there are some charts and basic graphs that do provide some varied content to help break up the text pages.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Each chapter of the book covers a unique area that can be studied separately from the other chapters. Most chapters highlight a unique area of the law and cover the basic principles and terminology related to that area. Most chapters’ content will not tie into or build upon things covered in previous or subsequent chapters.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The book is logically organized and covers most of the topics you would expect to see covered in an undergraduate legal survey or introductory business law course. There is not as much content about applying the legal principles covered in practical settings so if using this text that kind of information will be needed as a supplement.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text overall was clear and easy to read. There were a few charts and tables to help supplement the content where appropriate. There were also occasional “counselor’s corner” call-out boxes that helped explain to the reader why this area of content was particularly important.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"The text is free from grammatical and spelling errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The textbook is not insensitive or offensive in any way and it has a chapter that focuses on an anti-discrimination law that is well-written, timely, and appropriate for the age and time.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This is a good textbook for undergraduate students seeking a basic understanding of the law. Most business law courses or legal survey courses of this type are semester-long, though there is enough content in this text to be used for a full school year if there is a business law 2 class that would follow the first one. A high school dual credit business law class that goes year long could also use this text.","created_at":"2022-06-24T14:38:23.000-05:00","updated_at":"2022-06-24T14:38:23.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/fundamentals-of-business-law-randall","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:19:22.000-06:00"},{"id":131,"title":"Government Regulation and the Legal Environment of Business","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2012,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"Mayer, Warner, Siedel and Lieberman's Government Regulation and the Legal Environment of Business is an up-to-date textbook that covers legal issues that students must understand in today's highly regulated business environment. The text is organized to permit instructors to tailor the materials to their particular approach. The authors take special care to engage students by relating law to everyday events with their clear, concise and readable style. After introductory chapters covering the legal environment of business, Government Regulation and the Legal Environment of Business provides students with context and essential legal concepts relating to contracts, consumer credit transactions, bankruptcy, intellectual property, securities regulation, regulation of real estate, antitrust, unfair trade practices, employment law and labor relations. The text provides the vocabulary and legal savvy they will need to talk in an educated way to customers, suppliers, employees, creditors, shareholders, government regulators and other stakeholders — and to their own lawyers.","contributors":[{"id":2376,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Don","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Mayer","location":"University of Denver","background_text":"Don Mayer now teaches law, ethics, public policy, and sustainability at the Daniels College of Business, University of Denver, where he is Professor in Residence. His research focuses on the role of business in creating a more just, sustainable, peaceful and productive world. With James O'Toole, Professor Mayer has co-edited and contributed content to Good Business: Exercising Effective \u0026 Ethical Leadership (Routledge: Taylor and Francis, 2010). He is also co-author of International Business Law: Cases and Materials, in its 5th edition with Pearson Publishing Co. He recently served as the first Arsht Visiting Ethics Scholar at the University of Miami. After attending Kenyon College (philosophy) and Duke University Law School, Professor Mayer served as a \"JAG officer\" with the United States Air Force during the Vietnam conflict, and went to private practice in North Carolina. He went to Washington D.C. in 1984 to attend Georgetown University Law Center, where he earned his LL.M. in International and Comparative law in 1985. He began an academic career in 1985 at Western Carolina University, and was a full professor at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan for many years before coming to the University of Denver. He has taught as a visitor at California State Polytechnic University, the University of Michigan, the Manchester Business School Worldwide, and Antwerp Management School. Professor Mayer has won numerous awards from the Academy of Legal Studies in Business, including the Hoeber Award for best article in the American Business Law Journal, twice won the Maurer Award for best article on business ethics, and three times won the Ralph Bunch Award for best article on international business law. His work has been published in many journals and law reviews, but most often in American Business Law Journal, the Journal of Business Ethics, and the Business Ethics Quarterly."},{"id":2377,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Daniel","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Warner","location":"Western Washington University","background_text":"Daniel Warner is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Washington, where-- following military service--he also attended law school. After some years of civil practice, he joined the faculty at the College of Business and Economics at Western Washington University in 1978 where he is now a professor of business legal studies in the Accounting Department. He has published extensively exploring the intersection of popular culture and the law, for which publications he has five times received the College of Business Dean's Research Award for \"distinguished contributions in published research.\" He served eight years on the Whatcom County Council, two years as its Chair. He has served on the Faculty Senate, on various university and college committees including chairman of the University Master Plan Committee; he has been active in state Bar Association committee work and in local politics, where he has served on numerous boards and commissions over 30 years."},{"id":2378,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"George","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Siedel","location":"University of Michigan","background_text":"George J. Siedel's research addresses legal issues that relate to international business law, negotiation, and dispute resolution. Recent publications focus on proactive law and the use of law to gain competitive advantage. His work in progress includes research on the impact of litigation on large corporations and the use of electronic communication as evidence in litigation. Professor Siedel has been admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court and in Michigan, Ohio, and Florida. Following graduation from law school, he worked as an attorney in a professional corporation. He has also served on several boards of directors and as Associate Dean of the University of Michigan Business School. The author of numerous books and articles, Professor Siedel has received several research awards, including the Faculty Recognition Award from the University of Michigan and the following awards from the Academy of Legal Studies in Business: the Hoeber Award, the Ralph Bunche Award and the Maurer Award. The Center for International Business Education and Research selected a case written by Professor Siedel for its annual International Case Writing Award. His research has been cited by appellate courts in the United States and abroad, including the High Court of Australia. Professor Siedel has served as Visiting Professor of Business Law at Stanford University, Visiting Professor of Business Administration at Harvard University, and Parsons Fellow at the University of Sydney. He has been elected a Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University's Wolfson College and a Life Fellow of the Michigan State Bar Foundation. As a Fulbright Scholar, Professor Siedel held a Distinguished Chair in the Humanities and Social Sciences."},{"id":2379,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Jethro","middle_name":"K.","last_name":"Lieberman","location":"New York Law School","background_text":"Jethro K. Lieberman is professor of law and VP for Academic Publishing at New York Law School, where he has taught for more than a quarter century. He took his B.A. in politics and economics from Yale University, his J.D. from Harvard Law School, and his Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University. He began his teaching career at Fordham University Law School and before that was VP at what is now the CPR International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution. For nearly ten years he was Legal Affairs Editor of Business Week Magazine. He practiced antitrust and trade regulation law at a large Washington law firm and was on active duty as a member of the Navy’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps during the Vietnam era. He is the author of The Litigious Society (Basic Books), winner of the American Bar Association’s top literary prize, the Silver Gavel, and also of A Practical Companion to the Constitution: How the Supreme Court Has Ruled on Issues from Abortion to Zoning (University of California Press), among many other books. He is a long-time letterpress printer and proprietor of The Press at James Pond, a private press, and owner of the historic Kelmscott- Goudy Press, an Albion hand press that was used to print the Kelmscott Press edition of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales in the 1890s."}],"subjects":[{"id":67,"name":"Administrative Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"K3400","visible_textbooks_count":14,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/administrative-law"},{"id":2,"name":"Business","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"HF5001","visible_textbooks_count":144,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/business"},{"id":62,"name":"Civil Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"K623","visible_textbooks_count":26,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/law-civil-law"},{"id":68,"name":"Constitutional Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"K3154","visible_textbooks_count":19,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/constitutional-law"},{"id":64,"name":"Contract Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"K7265","visible_textbooks_count":25,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/environmental-law"},{"id":63,"name":"Criminal Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"KB3790","visible_textbooks_count":20,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/criminal-law"},{"id":11,"name":"Law","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"KF385.A4","visible_textbooks_count":99,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/law"},{"id":66,"name":"Property Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"K7200","visible_textbooks_count":22,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/property-law"},{"id":45,"name":"Political Science","parent_subject_id":9,"call_number":"JA71","visible_textbooks_count":41,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/political-science"}],"publishers":[{"id":68,"url":"http://www.saylor.org/site/textbooks/Government%20Regulation%20and%20the%20Legal%20Environment%20of%20Business.pdf","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:36.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:36.000-05:00","name":"Saylor Foundation"}],"formats":[{"id":260,"type":"PDF","url":"http://www.saylor.org/site/textbooks/Government%20Regulation%20and%20the%20Legal%20Environment%20of%20Business.pdf","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":261,"type":"Online","url":"https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_government-regulation-and-the-legal-environment-of-business/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":1,"reviews":[{"id":33399,"first_name":"Casey","last_name":"Baker","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Marshall University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text covers a broad range of legal subjects relevant to business students. In particular, the coverage of credit transactions and debtor-creditor relationships is better than what I have experienced with similar texts. I also appreciate the early chapter on ethics and social responsibility, as that is an important element of the business legal environment that a pure business law text may miss. However, I was disappointed that there was no chapter specifically dedicated to business organizations and taxation, as those are critical areas of understanding for all business students. Likewise, there is no index or glossary for reference.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"It has solid coverage of the fundamentals of business law. I did not notice any glaring errors, although some of the content may be a little dated.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The text does focus on specific regulatory areas more so than other texts I have read/used. This is good and bad. At least at the undergraduate level, breadth is more important than depth, so this coverage exposes students to more concepts that could be relevant in their later educational experiences and careers. However, it does run the risk of becoming obsolete with a change in political winds. That being said, the only major relevance issue I saw was some of the discussion on employment discrimination--specifically, with regard to sexual orientation and gender identity-based discrimination. The text does not reflect the most recent Supreme Court decision on this point.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The text is fine for the most part. There is some jargon in the ethics and corporate social responsibility chapter, with the discussion being a little more theoretical than application-based than I would prefer.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"I saw no issues here.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"I thought this was fine. I am already making plans to mix components of this text with another. However, this book does include some internal references within the text that I will need to revise if I mix the two.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"This is organized in a pretty conventional manner.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"The online text is fine. The PDF has some paragraph formatting/spacing problems. The paragraphs are not indented, and there is not an extra space between paragraphs. There are times where the information appears as a wall of text, even though multiple paragraphs were intended.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I saw no major issues.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I saw no major issues.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This appears to be a good, solid, basic legal environment of business text. It could be adapted to fit the typical business law course at almost any American university.","created_at":"2021-10-05T12:22:04.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-10-05T12:22:04.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/government-regulation-and-the-legal-environment-of-business","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:01:52.000-06:00"},{"id":277,"title":"Introduction to Contracts, Sales and Product Liability","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2012,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"This textbook provides context and essential concepts across the entire range of legal issues with whichmanagers and business executives must grapple. The text provides the vocabulary and legal acumennecessary for businesspeople to talk in an educated way to their customers, employees, suppliers,government officials—and to their own lawyers. Traditional publishers often create confusion among customers in the text selection process by offering ahuge array of publications. Once a text is selected, customers might still have to customize the text to meettheir needs. For example, publishers usually offer books that include either case summaries or excerptedcases, but some instructors prefer to combine case summaries with a few excerpted cases so that studentscan experience reading original material. Likewise, the manner in which most conventional textsincorporate video is cumbersome because the videos are contained in a separate library, which makesaccess more complicating for instructors and students.","contributors":[{"id":3079,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Don","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Mayer","location":"University of Denver","background_text":"Don Mayer now teaches law, ethics, public policy, and sustainability at the Daniels College of Business, University of Denver, where he is Professor in Residence. His research focuses on the role of business in creating a more just, sustainable, peaceful and productive world. With James O'Toole, Professor Mayer has co-edited and contributed content to Good Business: Exercising Effective \u0026 Ethical Leadership (Routledge: Taylor and Francis, 2010). He is also co-author of International Business Law: Cases and Materials, in its 5th edition with Pearson Publishing Co. He recently served as the first Arsht Visiting Ethics Scholar at the University of Miami. After attending Kenyon College (philosophy) and Duke University Law School, Professor Mayer served as a \"JAG officer\" with the United States Air Force during the Vietnam conflict, and went to private practice in North Carolina. He went to Washington D.C. in 1984 to attend Georgetown University Law Center, where he earned his LL.M. in International and Comparative law in 1985. He began an academic career in 1985 at Western Carolina University, and was a full professor at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan for many years before coming to the University of Denver. He has taught as a visitor at California State Polytechnic University, the University of Michigan, the Manchester Business School Worldwide, and Antwerp Management School. Professor Mayer has won numerous awards from the Academy of Legal Studies in Business, including the Hoeber Award for best article in the American Business Law Journal, twice won the Maurer Award for best article on business ethics, and three times won the Ralph Bunch Award for best article on international business law. His work has been published in many journals and law reviews, but most often in American Business Law Journal, the Journal of Business Ethics, and the Business Ethics Quarterly."},{"id":3080,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Daniel","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Warner","location":"Western Washington University","background_text":"Daniel Warner is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Washington, where-- following military service--he also attended law school. After some years of civil practice, he joined the faculty at the College of Business and Economics at Western Washington University in 1978 where he is now a professor of business legal studies in the Accounting Department. He has published extensively exploring the intersection of popular culture and the law, for which publications he has five times received the College of Business Dean's Research Award for \"distinguished contributions in published research.\" He served eight years on the Whatcom County Council, two years as its Chair. He has served on the Faculty Senate, on various university and college committees including chairman of the University Master Plan Committee; he has been active in state Bar Association committee work and in local politics, where he has served on numerous boards and commissions over 30 years."},{"id":3081,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"George","middle_name":"J.","last_name":"Siedel","location":"University of Michigan","background_text":"George J. Siedel's research addresses legal issues that relate to international business law, negotiation, and dispute resolution. Recent publications focus on proactive law and the use of law to gain competitive advantage. His work in progress includes research on the impact of litigation on large corporations and the use of electronic communication as evidence in litigation. Professor Siedel has been admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court and in Michigan, Ohio, and Florida. Following graduation from law school, he worked as an attorney in a professional corporation. He has also served on several boards of directors and as Associate Dean of the University of Michigan Business School. The author of numerous books and articles, Professor Siedel has received several research awards, including the Faculty Recognition Award from the University of Michigan and the following awards from the Academy of Legal Studies in Business: the Hoeber Award, the Ralph Bunche Award and the Maurer Award. The Center for International Business Education and Research selected a case written by Professor Siedel for its annual International Case Writing Award. His research has been cited by appellate courts in the United States and abroad, including the High Court of Australia. Professor Siedel has served as Visiting Professor of Business Law at Stanford University, Visiting Professor of Business Administration at Harvard University, and Parsons Fellow at the University of Sydney. He has been elected a Visiting Fellow at Cambridge University's Wolfson College and a Life Fellow of the Michigan State Bar Foundation. As a Fulbright Scholar, Professor Siedel held a Distinguished Chair in the Humanities and Social Sciences."},{"id":3082,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Jethro","middle_name":"K.","last_name":"Lieberman","location":"New York Law School","background_text":"Jethro K. Lieberman is professor of law and VP for Academic Publishing at New York Law School, where he has taught for more than a quarter century. He took his B.A. in politics and economics from Yale University, his J.D. from Harvard Law School, and his Ph.D. in political science from Columbia University. He began his teaching career at Fordham University Law School and before that was VP at what is now the CPR International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution. For nearly ten years he was Legal Affairs Editor of Business Week Magazine. He practiced antitrust and trade regulation law at a large Washington law firm and was on active duty as a member of the Navy’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps during the Vietnam era. He is the author of The Litigious Society (Basic Books), winner of the American Bar Association’s top literary prize, the Silver Gavel, and also of A Practical Companion to the Constitution: How the Supreme Court Has Ruled on Issues from Abortion to Zoning (University of California Press), among many other books. He is a long-time letterpress printer and proprietor of The Press at James Pond, a private press, and owner of the historic Kelmscott- Goudy Press, an Albion hand press that was used to print the Kelmscott Press edition of Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales in the 1890s."}],"subjects":[{"id":2,"name":"Business","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"HF5001","visible_textbooks_count":144,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/business"},{"id":67,"name":"Administrative Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"K3400","visible_textbooks_count":14,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/administrative-law"},{"id":62,"name":"Civil Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"K623","visible_textbooks_count":26,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/law-civil-law"},{"id":68,"name":"Constitutional Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"K3154","visible_textbooks_count":19,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/constitutional-law"},{"id":64,"name":"Contract Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"K7265","visible_textbooks_count":25,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/environmental-law"},{"id":63,"name":"Criminal Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"KB3790","visible_textbooks_count":20,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/criminal-law"},{"id":11,"name":"Law","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"KF385.A4","visible_textbooks_count":99,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/law"}],"publishers":[{"id":166,"url":"https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_introduction-to-contracts-sales-and-product-liability/","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:37.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:37.000-05:00","name":"Saylor Foundation"}],"formats":[{"id":313,"type":"Online","url":"https://saylordotorg.github.io/text_introduction-to-contracts-sales-and-product-liability/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":314,"type":"PDF","url":"http://www.saylor.org/site/textbooks/Introduction%20to%20Contracts,%20Sales,%20and%20Product%20Liability.pdf","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"5","textbook_reviews_count":1,"reviews":[{"id":4784,"first_name":"Teri","last_name":"Huggins","position":"Associate Professor","institution_name":"Kansas City Kansas Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"I think this book gives comprehensive coverage of the subject matter. Since my Business Law I class primarily focuses on contracts and Business Law II has a large focus on sales and product liability, I have been looking for a textbook that focuses on those areas. I like the in-depth coverage of each area. Rather than being 50 chapters, there are 22 and these chapters focus on most of the areas I cover in my classes. I like the use of \"Key Takeaways\" to help the reader focus on the most important points.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The content is accurate. I didn't find any errors or apparent bias. The examples that are given are very easy to understand.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Overall, contract law doesn't change a lot over time.  The cases in the book are not very recent, but that doesn't make the text obsolete. I have found that the cases in most Business law textbooks are not that recent, but they are usually the cases that are the best to use as an example of a concept. The way the cases are used in the text, in most instances, it would be easy to insert new case examples.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The textbook is written in very clear language that I feel is easy to understand. There isn't too much \"legalese\". The tables and diagrams are very straightforward, unlike many other textbooks where I feel the diagrams are confusing to me, even as an attorney. Legal terms are presented in easily understood contexts that in most cases can be applied to every day life.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"There's a lot of consistency from chapter to chapter; also the chapters on contracts build on each other. The terminology is consistent throughout the chapters and the framework is the same from chapter to chapter. Chapters start with the learning objectives, the information on the concept is presented, cases are used to show the application of the law, then the information is \"chunked\" into key takeaways,  The chapters end with exercises and self-checks.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The use of \"key takeaways\" makes it easy to divide a chapter into smaller reading sections. There are multiple subheadings within each sub-topic. Unlike many textbooks that have problem cases/exercises at the end of the chapter, there are small exercises over the sub-topics. I like this because if a student is struggling with something, it would be easy to have them read just the sub-topic and complete the exercise at the end, rather than having them read the whole chapter.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The topics in the text build upon each other and there's a good flow from chapter to chapter.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I didn't find any interface issues. It was easy to navigate and all of the images and charts were very clear.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I didn't note any grammatical or spelling errors.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I couldn't find any examples of cultural insensitivity. There aren't any discussions of ethics, or of bias that can occur in transactions due to an individual's race, ethnicity and background.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"Overall, I really like this textbook, but I would use it as a complimentary text, not as the main text. There's no mention of ethics which I feel should be incorporated into every Business Law course.","created_at":"2021-04-17T22:37:11.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-04-17T22:37:11.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/introduction-to-contracts-sales-and-product-liability","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:01:56.000-06:00"},{"id":498,"title":"Introduction to Criminal Investigation: Processes, Practices and Thinking","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2017,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-NonCommercial","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"Introduction to Criminal Investigation, Processes, Practices, and Thinking is a teaching text designed to assist the student in developing their own structured mental map of processes, practices, and thinking to conduct criminal investigations. Delineating criminal investigation into operational descriptors of tactical-response and strategic response while using illustrations of task-skills and thinking-skills, the reader is guided into structured thinking practices. Using the graphic tools of a “Response Transition Matrix”, an “Investigative Funnel”, and the “STAIR Tool”, the reader is shown how to form their own mental map of investigative thinking that can later be articulated in support of forming their reasonable grounds to believe. Chapter 1 introduces criminal investigation as both a task process and a thinking process. This chapter outlines these concepts, rules, and processes with the goal of providing practical tools to ensure successful investigative processes and practices. Most importantly, this book informs the reader how to approach the investigative process using “investigative thinking.” Chapter 2 illustrates investigation by establishing an understanding of the operational forum in which it occurs. That forum is the criminal justice system and in particular, the court system. The investigative process exists within the statutory rules of law, including the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and case law rulings adjudicated by the courts. Considering the existence of these conditions, obligations, and case law rules, there are many terms and concepts that an investigator needs to understand to function appropriately and effectively within the criminal justice system. The purpose of this chapter is to introduce some of the basic legal parameters and concepts of criminal justice within which the criminal investigation process takes place. Chapter 3 describes the functions and terms of “evidence”, as they relate to investigation. This speaks to a wide range of information sources that might eventually inform the court to prove or disprove points at issue before the trier of fact. Sources of evidence can include anything from the observations of witnesses to the examination and analysis of physical objects. It can even include the spatial relationships between people, places, and objects within the timeline of events. From the various forms of evidence, the court can draw inferences and reach conclusions to determine if a charge has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Considering the critical nature of evidence within the court system, there are a wide variety of definitions and protocols that have evolved to direct the way evidence is defined for consideration by the court. In this chapter, we look at some of the key definitions and protocols that an investigator should understand to carry out the investigative process. Chapter 4 breaks investigation down into logical steps, establishing a progression that can be followed and repeated to reach the desired results. The process of investigation can be effectively explained and learned in this manner. In this chapter the reader is introduced to various issues in the progression that relate to the process of investigation. Chapter 5 examines the operational processes of investigation. In this chapter we introduce the three big investigative errors along with graphic illustrations of “The Investigative Funnel” and the “S T A I R Tool” to illustrate how each of these concepts in the investigative progression. Chapter 6 provides the reader the opportunity to work through some investigative scenarios using the S T A I R Tool. These scenarios demonstrate the investigative awareness required to transition from the tactical investigative response to the strategic investigative response. Once in the strategic response mode the reader is challenged to practice applying theory development to conduct analysis of the evidence and information to create an investigative plan. This chapter presents two investigative scenarios each designed to illustrate different steps of the S T A I R tool allowing the student to recognize both the tactical and the strategic investigative responses and the implications of transitioning from the tactical to the strategic response. Chapter 7 illustrates the investigative practices of witness management. Witness statements will assist the investigator in forming reasonable grounds to lay a charge, and will assist the court in reaching a decision that the charge against an accused person has been proved beyond a reasonable doubt. It is important for an investigator to understand these practices as they allow an investigator to evaluate witnesses and collect witness evidence that will be acceptable to the courts. Chapter 8 describes crime scene management skills. These skills are an extremely significant task component of investigation because evidence that originates at the crime scene will provide a picture of events for the court to consider in its deliberations. That picture will be composed of witness testimony, crime scene photographs, physical exhibits, and the analysis of those exhibits, along with the analysis of the crime scene itself. From this chapter, the reader will learn the task processes and protocols for several important issues in crime scene management. Chapter 9 examines the interviewing, questioning, and interrogation techniques police use to aid them in investigations. The courts expect police to exercise high standards using practices that focus on the rights of the accused person, and minimize any physical or mental anguish that might cause a false confession. In meeting these expectations, the challenges of suspect questioning and interrogation can be complex, and many police agencies have trained interrogators and polygraph operators who undertake the interrogation of suspects for major criminal cases. But not every investigation qualifies as a major case, and frontline police investigators are challenged to undertake the tasks of interviewing, questioning, and interrogating possible suspects daily. The challenge for police is that the questioning of a suspect and the subsequent confession can be compromised by flawed interviewing, questioning, or interrogation practices. Understanding the correct processes and the legal parameters can make the difference between having a suspect's confession accepted as evidence by the court or not. Chapter 10 examines various forensic sciences and the application of forensic sciences as practical tools to assist police in conducting investigations. As we noted in Chapter 1, it is not necessary for an investigator to be an expert in any of the forensic sciences; however, it is important to have a sound understanding of forensic tools to call upon appropriate experts to deploy the correct tools when required. Chapter 11 summarizes the learning objectives of this text and suggests investigative learning topics for the reader going forward. Many topics relative to investigative practices have not been covered here as part of the core knowledge requirements for a new investigator. These topics include: Major Case ManagementInformant and confidential source managementUndercover investigationsSpecialized team investigations","contributors":[{"id":4312,"contribution":"Author","primary":true,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Rod","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Gehl","location":"Justice Institute of British Columbia","background_text":"Rod Gehl, is a retired police Inspector, and an instructor of criminal investigation for International Programs and the Law Enforcement Studies Program at the Justice Institute of British Columbia. These ongoing teaching engagements are preceded by 35 years of policing experience as criminal investigator and a leader of multi-agency major case management teams. From his experiences Rod has been a keynote speaker at several international homicide conferences and has assisted in the development and presentation of Major Case Management courses for the Canadian Police College. For his contribution to policing he has been conferred the Lieutenant Governor’s Meritorious Service Award for homicide investigation. Rod’s published research on the “The Dynamics of Police Cooperation in Multi-agency Investigations”, was followed by his article, titled, “Multi-agency Teams, A Leadership Challenge”, featured in the US Police Chief Magazine. Rod retains a licence as a private investigator and security consultant and continues to work with regulatory compliance agencies in both public and private sector organizations for the development of their investigative training and systems."},{"id":4313,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":null,"first_name":"Darryl","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Plecas","location":"University of the Fraser Valley","background_text":"Darryl Plecas is Professor Emeritus at University of the Fraser Valley where he worked for 34 years, most recently holding the Senior University Research Chair (RCMP) and Directorship of the Centre for Public Safety and Criminal Justice Research. As Professor Emeritus he continues to co-author work with colleagues and supervises graduate students. He also serves as Associate Research Faculty at California State University – Sacramento, and as an annually invited lecturer to the Yunnan Police College in Kunming, China. He is the author or co-author of more than 200 research reports, international journal articles, books, and other publications addressing a broad range public safety issues. He is a recipient of numerous awards, including UFV’s Teaching Excellence Award, the Innovative Excellence in Teaching, Learning and Technology Award from the International Conference on College Teaching and Learning, the Order of Abbotsford, the CCSA Award of Excellence, and the British Columbia Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Public Safety. His most recent co-authored book “Evidenced Based Decision Making for Government Professionals” was awarded the 2016 Professional Development Award from the Canadian Association of Municipalities."}],"subjects":[{"id":63,"name":"Criminal Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"KB3790","visible_textbooks_count":20,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/criminal-law"},{"id":65,"name":"Procedural Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"KBP1572","visible_textbooks_count":12,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/contract-law"},{"id":11,"name":"Law","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"KF385.A4","visible_textbooks_count":99,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/law"}],"publishers":[{"id":438,"url":"https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/criminalinvestigation/","year":null,"created_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:39.000-05:00","updated_at":"2018-09-07T12:22:39.000-05:00","name":"BCcampus"}],"formats":[{"id":750,"type":"Online","url":"https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/criminalinvestigation/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":1679,"type":"PDF","url":"https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/criminalinvestigation/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":1680,"type":"eBook","url":"https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/criminalinvestigation/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":1841,"type":"MS Word","url":"https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/criminalinvestigation/open/download?type=odf","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":4593,"type":"XML","url":"https://pressbooks.bccampus.ca/criminalinvestigation/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4.5","textbook_reviews_count":7,"reviews":[{"id":1709,"first_name":"Michael","last_name":"Buerger","position":"Professor of Criminal Justice","institution_name":"Bowling Green State University, Ohio","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text under review is written for Canadian investigators, and rests on Canadian law and case precedents.  That limits its applicability to the American market, and in some ways limits the value of an assessment by an American reviewer.  Many sections do not have direct applicability, despite the general similarities between the two systems.  Even though there are clear parallels in the legal systems, Canadian case law under a national charter will not have broad applicability in the United States context.  State laws, federal appellate districts, and Supreme Court decisions are all operant, and the applicable legal rules may differ between jurisdictions when there are no federal precedents (the Scenario #2 domestic violence example on page 53 is such an example, for instance).  The overview in Chapter 1 is excellent, and can be applied equally to criminal investigations in any democratic context.  Chapter 2’s discussion of “discretion” is a good example of that adaptability, for instance:  the overall effect of the first two chapters is positive enough to make me wish there could be an American version.  \n\nThe approach taken by the authors is a sensible and much-needed addition to the presentation of criminal investigations.  Distinguishing between investigative tasks and investigative thinking is a recurring thematic guide, and it is articulated well throughout the book.  Though the distinction might be made more explicitly, the authors recognize that criminal investigations begin with the arrival of the first responding unit, almost always a uniformed officer rather than an investigator, and they incorporate that perspective throughout.  The roles described on page 13 are equally applicable to Canadian and U.S. criminal justice personnel.\n\nNot all of the examples are as useful as they might be.  The example on page 36 – “I really need some money.  I’m going to rob that bank tomorrow.” – is far more explicit than the type of circumstantial evidence investigators are likely to encounter.  While the statement is useful, it is unrealistically specific:  improvements might include the addition of variations on the theme of such utterances, such as:  “I really need some money.  Maybe I should rob a bank” and “I really, really need money.  I’m desperate.”  The greater ambiguity embedded in those statements is a greater test of the thinking discipline that the authors promote.\n\nPage 43:  the issue of consent may be that simple in Canada, but American cases rest on whether or not the person giving consent has authority to do so:  cohabitants, roommates with specific areas of privacy vs. general-use spaces, landlords rather than tenants, and similar variations are not addressed here.  \n\nThe distinction between Tactical and Strategic responses is a valid one, but it is dragged out a bit more than it needs to be on pp. 48-51; it is laborious reading, leaning to the tendentious.  The concept is clear, but the explanation drags.  One of the issues related to that distinction is the role of first-responding patrol officers, and subsequent follow-up investigation by detectives\n\nThe discussion of the stabbing incident that occupies pages 55-57 is important for establishing the “step-down” requirement when an exigent circumstances scene is brought under control.  It is described in Canadian terms, but has American analogs.  \n\nThe presentations focus more on philosophy than technique, and the links between the two are not consistent throughout.  While the overview of forensic evidence is a good introductory treatment, I expected at least some reference to collection techniques, since the lab work is dependent upon crime scene work. \n","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"I cannot speak to the accuracy of the Canadian legal components, but the elements that apply to the fundamental of the work are sound.  ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Relevance and longevity should be good.  Changes in law, and changes in or addition to the forensic techniques will require periodic updating, but that should be accomplished easily.  ","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The writing is clear, although repetitive in some places, leaning to the tendentious in a few spots.  My only real concern would be that the some readers might get lost in the philosophy of thinking, to the detriment of understanding the associated techniques. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Consistency of approach and terminology, and associated linkages in different sections, is good.  ","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The modules are a strength of the book; my only criticism is that they are more uneven in their content than I would expect.  A number of one-short-paragraph modules are ripe for at least some further development.  ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The text is clear, and easy to follow.  ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I experienced no interface problems at all.  ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Allowing for the different systems of punctuation, the book is error-free in terms of grammar.  There are some annoying proofreading errors that stand out, however: \nPage 62:  a comma rather than a period at the end of the second sentence of the “Common Error #3” paragraph.  \nPage 65:  redundant “situation” in the third paragraph (lower case followed by a capitalized Boldface).  \nPage 82, final paragraph:  “articles of evid. . . ase” are proofreading errors\nPage 92: Need a space between “crime.” and “Understanding”\nPage 120, third line of the “Like photo lineups” paragraph:  the semi-colon should be a comma. A comma after “suspect” in the second line would help clarify the subordinate clause issue. \n","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Cultural references are mostly absent, and for good reason, I think.  They are a larger element in investigations, more fragmented in their application, and deserve separate, free-standing treatment.  I saw no references that raised red flags for offensive content. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"The first “Interviewing” paragraph at the bottom of page 123, carrying over to page 124, begins with the premise that “In fact, the person is not even definable as a suspect at this point,” but immediately shifts to a previously-discussed point (perpetrators acting as witnesses or reporters in order to deflect suspicion) and remains on that point to the end.  Far more persons are interviewed who do not fit this category than are those who are, and the narrow focus on “suspect” for this portion is disconcerting.  \n\nThe main focus of the chapter is on offenders, which at some point the investigation must be, but the broader preliminary interview phases need better development.  Chapter 7 deals more with typologies than techniques, so a broader treatment of non-suspect witness interviews (and recontact interviews) would be helpful.  \n","created_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2018-02-01T18:00:00.000-06:00"},{"id":3257,"first_name":"Robert","last_name":"Engvall","position":"Professor","institution_name":"Roger Williams University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book provides a comprehensive look at introductory criminal investigation. It does a nice job of laying a proper foundation through introducing basic concepts leading through to chapters on crime scene management and forensic sciences.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"This book is entirely accurate in its portrayal of criminal investigation. ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This book is particularly relevant given today's increasingly complicated criminal justice climate. Criminal investigations are under increased scrutiny (appropriately so) and this book introduces that important new reality.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"This book is clear, concise, valuable to the reader.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"This book provides consistency throughout.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Each chapter provides its own information and could easily stand alone as a section of study. The context is set appropriately in the beginning of the book and some basic concepts follow leading through to more complicated crime scene management.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Each chapter stands alone, and is clearly organized. The flow is appropriate as the book takes the reader from context to basics to more complicated and reality based principles.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The book is easy to read, easy to look at, well organized.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Grammar is fine.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The book is appropriate for today's world. ","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"This book truly does provide a solid foundation for a criminal investigation student. It would be of value to any undergraduate criminal investigation course. ","created_at":"2019-11-05T06:50:15.000-06:00","updated_at":"2019-11-05T06:50:15.000-06:00"},{"id":3864,"first_name":"William","last_name":"Powers","position":"Adjunct Faculty","institution_name":"Bristol Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"Comprehensive instructions from first responding Officer to crime scene preservation, documentation, interviews and interrogation plus (Canadian) legal aspects.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Written in a straight forward, unbiased, usually step by step progression.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Text is based on Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, so legal aspects are not likely to drastically change.  Text can be easily edited and updated for changes and new rulings in case law.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Wording is clear, minimal use of technical terminology.  The only thing I had to research was the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms for comparison to American Constitution/Bill of Rights.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Proper use of terminology, some easily understood Canadian phrasing.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Book is properly divided by chapter and sub-divided to explain more detailed subject matter.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Good progression of subject matter from Intro through legal aspects to strategic organization and tactical use of crime scene protocols.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The few charts in the book were clear and easily understood.  No distortion.","grammatical_rating":3,"grammatical_review":"Some grammatical and punctuation errors scattered throughout the book.  Ch. 7 Topic 2 Witness Types became confusing grammatically.  Poorly worded in identifying direct, indirect, circumstantial evidence and witnesses.  Ch 8 Note Taking.  A quote (?) was opened with parentheses, parentheses were never closed.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"Examples were non-offensive.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"This text will be useful to a Canadian instructor and classes of prospective Police Officers, especially those that intend to pursue careers in criminalistics.  The heavy but necessary reliance on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms limits the books usefulness in other countries.  Officers in the United States will be unnecessarily confused by the mixture of Canadian rights and the American Bill of Rights/Constitution. (This reviewer is from the U.S.)\r\n  I myself will explore the use of Ch 8 as a quality example of proper crime scene security.  The chapter shows how a first responding Officer should establish proper limited access to the crime scene, how to use an Officer assigned to maintaining a Crime Scene Security Log to limit access to and document egress times at a scene, and use  of an Exhibit Log by a Forensics team supervisor to protect evidence integrity.","created_at":"2020-05-29T07:46:39.000-05:00","updated_at":"2020-05-29T07:46:39.000-05:00"},{"id":4776,"first_name":"paul","last_name":"Zipper","position":"Adjunct Faculty","institution_name":"Northern Essex Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"The Text was written utilizing Canadian law. This became problematic when addressing legal concepts in the US. There was no index or glossary of terms. The text would have benefited with an index and glossary of terms at the end.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"The major investigative steps in the book was accurate. However when delving deeper into the text, it was clear Canadian terminology and US terminology and laws are different and don't mesh seamlessly. There are minor spelling nuances between the US and Canada. We use the term \"offense\" Canadians use \"offence\" as an example.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The 11 chapters were organized and hit the major areas in Criminal Investigation. Necessary updates can fit into the current  template.","clarity_rating":1,"clarity_review":"The major investigative step are well written. However Canadian Jargon/laws/terminology do not translate into concepts found in US law.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The terminology and framework are consistent- yet not applicable to what we do in the US","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Modularity found in this course is a strength. Having used the text the last several semesters, it is easy to use with a traditional 14 week semester. It also covers the major concepts in a manner that is not overwhelming to students. Each week of the semester a major concept is covered and additional case studies and article are utilized to support the chapter we are covering.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book is well organized. It takes the students through a traditional investigative flow. It has a strong introduction and covers the necessary preliminary steps and investigator/student  would need to know before moving on to the next one.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text is free of interface issues; that being said the text would be enhanced by adding some images and charts to enhance the materials.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"Minor grammatical errors","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I found no material in the text that would in any way be considered insensitive or offensive.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"I think this is an excellent OER. It is well organized and covers major investigative steps in an organized fashion. The major downside is the audience it was written for are Canadian Law Enforcement Officers. I am teaching college students in Massachusetts, USA. A majority of the investigative steps and concepts are transferrable to the US. However, Canadian law and criminal procedure are different than US Federal law and the laws in each of our 50 states and territories. This text works with supplemental materials from the jurisdiction it is taught in being inserted. The instructor needs to point out the differences during class discussion.","created_at":"2021-04-15T15:12:26.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-04-15T15:12:26.000-05:00"},{"id":33364,"first_name":"Graham","last_name":"Rankin","position":"Visiting Assistant Professor, Chemistry","institution_name":"Western Oregon University","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"There are extensive references including legal citations for Canadian Supreme Court decisions, and an an excellent list of study questions with answers at the end of the text.  However, there is no glossary or index included which makes it more difficult to find the definition of a term or individual pages where a topic is covered.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Appears to be fairly accurate.  I am not familiar with Caradon law so I am assuming these sections are accurate.  Because the Forensic Science chapter is very superficial some aspects, while not inaccurate, are incomplete.  For instance, Ballistics is considered outmoded and Firearms Identification is preferred.  Accelerant and Arson are discouraged from use as Fire Debris Analysis, Suspicious Fire  and Ignitable Liquid Determination are the recommended terms.  Only the jury can determine  if the presence of an ignitable liquid was used by the accused as an accelerant in the commission of the crime of arson.  Also Bite Mark Evidence is now considered pseudoscience and may not be presented in court.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"Publication date is 2016 which is reasonably recent, however an updated edition should be considered in light of new developments in analysis of trace evidence, DNA genealogical matching, and digital evidence, especially cell phone tracing of a suspect's movements.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Generally very clear, except for the too brief Forensic Science chapter.  Also the correct packaging of evidence needs to be included as the uniformed officer may be tasked with this at the crime scene.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"With the exception of Chapter 10 it is very consistent.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Each chapter is divided into Topics with study questions at the end of each chapter.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Very good. Example forms for Crime Scene management and Evidence log are included.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"Scenarios could be expanded to encourage critical thinking by requiring the reader to formulate a hypothesis based on evidence, the test that hypothesis.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"none noted.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The importance of photo and line-up procedures to include same race and general description is important for eye witness identification.  Cultural issues were discussed in light of interviewing witnesses and suspects.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This text is intended for training police officers who may be involved in crime scene investigation and interviewing suspects and witnesses.  In that respect it does a very good job in developing a mindset for the officer to follow in the course of his/her duties.  The major downside is this is a Canadian publication and thus will need considerable additional lecture and written information relating to US federal and state legal issues especially Chapter 2.  While many of the aspects of rights of the suspect are common, the legal framework and court cases will be different.\r\nThe overall approach includes case scenarios and study questions at the end of each chapter.  Aside from those unique to Canadian law, these are excellent and could be used in a Crime Scene Investigation course in a Criminal Justice department.  Some topics in crime scene security, collection and preservation of evidence could be included in introductory courses in Forensic Science.  Chapter 10 is the only chapter relating directly to Forensic Science.  Some topics like Forensic Pathology are fairly detailed whereas Forensic Chemistry is a short paragraph, mostly a listing of areas of analysis, i.e. fire debris analysis, drug analysis, toxicology.  As a result this text would be unsuitable as the sole text for even an Introduction to Forensic Science course.","created_at":"2021-07-29T13:58:54.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-07-29T13:58:54.000-05:00"},{"id":33546,"first_name":"Richard","last_name":"Riner","position":"Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice/ Criminology","institution_name":"Buena Vista University","comprehensiveness_rating":3,"comprehensiveness_review":"This is a short text, 203 pages versus 519 pages for the book I am currently using for the Criminal Investigations course. It covers the basics, but that is about all it does. The book takes a very broad look at the investigative process, which makes it appropriate for those with no formal introduction into police work or investigations, but for those who are familiar with the process and might be looking for an in-depth examination of specific issues that can occur within the scope of an investigation, this book does not seem to be intended for that purpose. For example, a death investigation is different enough in nature and procedure that most texts devote a chapter to examining the inherent complexities and procedural challenges that accompany the investigation into the death of another human being. This book discusses major cases, and while death investigations certainly fall within that category,  there is not a lot of material devoted to them, and that material is under the topic of Forensics.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The book was written by and for students in Canada, while my background in law enforcement in the United States. However, the fact that many current and former law enforcement officials were consulted for the creation of this book lead me to believe that form a policy and procedure standpoint the book is accurate. In order to do due diligence for this section, I researched Canadian procedures (a very educational exercise) and found everything in  the book to be accurate.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Because the book is written from a broader frame of reference, it's utility will outlast many books in the field. Criminal Justice is an ever-changing field, and the more specific the material the more susceptible it is to changes in the landscape with regard to policy and procedure. By staying broad in scope the book discusses issues and practices that have relevant for many years and will remain so for the foreseeable future. This book will age well.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book is written in a straightforward language without a heavy reliance on jargon. The cases cited are not what I am used to being the book was written essentially for a Canadian audience, but the explanation of the importance and relevance of the cases would be easily understood. Anyone with an interest in investigations would be able to read this book and understand the message of the authors.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The voice in which the book was written remains consistent throughout. The terms used to refer to the various concepts or practices are such that once a person understands them they will be able to apply them later in the text to aid in understanding later concepts.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is broken down into chapters, as most texts are, but them the authors have further broken the text down into topics within each chapter. This makes locating a passage of text easily done. From an instructor stand point this is a feature I would find especially useful during the presentation of textbook material in class. Having the chapters broken down in this manner will make the task of learning easier for students as well.","organization_rating":3,"organization_review":"When teaching about the process of a criminal investigation, I find it helpful to address topic in the order that an investigator is likely to deal with them when carrying out an investigation, beginning with the initial response to the scene of the crime, and ending with testimony during the trial. This text is not organized in such a way. The order in which topics are presented is not inherently confusing, but for someone who \"walks\" students through the process means there would be a fair amount of jumping back and forth between chapters to approach the material chronologically.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"There were no issues with navigating the book. I downloaded a PDF of the text so it could accessed offline. And while there not active links in the table of contents that a person could click to go directly to a specific chapter, finding a particular passage or topic was fairly easy. The charts that accompany the text were clear both with regard to the quality of the image and clarity of the concepts. There were not a great deal of photos in the text, perhaps only one of a photo array, but it was a good quality photo.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"I did not notice issues with grammar within the text.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"Since the text was created for a Canadian audience, I may not be the most qualified person to judge the cultural relevance if this particular text. However, I did not find any material that I would deem inappropriate  of offensive. This text deals with material and incidents that can be upsetting or shocking to people, and does so in a manner that would not offensive to readers.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"Overall, this could be a useful and instructive text for the right audience. Outside of Canada, its potential utility lessens. The text has some very good characteristics, which have been described earlier, and some that could be improves in later iterations of the text.","created_at":"2021-12-16T10:42:00.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-12-16T10:42:00.000-06:00"},{"id":34208,"first_name":"Ann","last_name":"Koshivas","position":"Professor","institution_name":"North Shore Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"I am excited that there is a book in the OER library on criminal investigations. The principles of criminal investigation are well described and it is easy to read and understand.  It is a comprehensive book for a community college criminal investigations course.  There are some parts that might be confusing because the text is based on Canadian law but the general principles are explained well and applicable to the US as well.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"As far as I can tell the book is accurate but I am not as familiar with Canadian Law and case precedents so I cannot speak as to those aspects of the book. From what I can tell, the book is accurate.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"It is a relatively new book but the law frequently changes so it will need to be updated.  In addition, technological advances as they relate to criminal investigations are constantly being made so the book will need to be updated based on that as well.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is easy to read and well organized.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"There are no issues with consistency.  The book is consistent in terns of use of terminology and framework.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This book could easily be used to assign specific chapters.  Each chapter stands alone but the content follows a logical manner in its explanation of criminal investigations.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"This book is well organized.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The interface was fine.  There was nothing confusing or distracting.  It was well organized and easy to read.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I found no major problems with grammar. The text was understandable and easy to read.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"There was nothing culturally offensive about this book.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"The length of this book makes it appealing for an introductory course in criminal investigations. The author covers the areas thoroughly and is concise.","created_at":"2022-11-29T12:42:22.000-06:00","updated_at":"2022-11-29T12:42:22.000-06:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/introduction-to-criminal-investigation-processes-practices-and-thinking","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:24:34.000-06:00"},{"id":688,"title":"Introduction to the American Criminal Justice System","edition_statement":null,"volume":null,"copyright_year":2019,"isbn10":null,"isbn13":null,"license":"Attribution-ShareAlike","language":"eng","accessibility_statement":null,"accessibility_features":["unknown"],"description":"There is a dearth of OER textbooks in Criminology and Criminal Justice, which made creating this textbook all the more exciting. At times we faced challenges about what or how much to cover, but our primary goal was to make sure this book was as in-depth as the two textbooks we were currently using for our CCJ 230 introduction course. The only way we were willing to undertake this project as if it was as good, or better than the current books students read. We have had very positive feedback about the required textbooks in the course but consistently heard how expensive the books were to buy. We also needed to ensure we met the learning outcomes outlined by SOU for a general education course, as well as the state of Oregon, to make sure this textbook helps students meet those outcomes.","contributors":[{"id":4819,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":"Ph.D.","first_name":"Alison","middle_name":"S.","last_name":"Burke","location":"Southern Oregon University","background_text":"Alison S. Burke is a professor of criminology and criminal justice at Southern Oregon University. She earned her Ph.D. from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and her MCJ from the University of Colorado Denver. While in Denver, she worked with adjudicated youth in residential treatment facilitiesand group homes. She has published a variety of journal articles and book chapters related to juvenile justice, delinquency, and gender, and her primary research interests involve women and crime, juvenile justice and delinquency, and pedagogy in higher education. Her most recent book is titled Teaching Introduction to Criminology (2019)."},{"id":4820,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":"Ph.D.","first_name":"David","middle_name":"E.","last_name":"Carter","location":"Southern Oregon University","background_text":"David E. Carter joined the Criminology and Criminal Justice Department in 2008. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati. Dave served in the U.S. Army for 8 years as a linguist prior to attending school. He has published works in the Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency in the area of lifecourse research, as well as in the Corrections Compendium, where he wrote about U.S. inmate populations. He also works with local agencies (in a consultative role) providing evidence-based practices and evaluations for correctional programs in the area of effective interventions and evidence-based programming. At SOU, Dave has helped facilitate the Lock-In event and annual that provides students with a hands-on experience of the justice system.David E. Carter joined the Criminology and Criminal Justice Department in 2008. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Cincinnati. Dave served in the U.S. Army for 8 years as a linguist prior to attending school. He has published works in the Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency in the area of lifecourse research, as well as in the Corrections Compendium, where he wrote about U.S. inmate populations. He also works with local agencies (in a consultative role) providing evidence-based practices and evaluations for correctional programs in the area of effective interventions and evidence-based programming. At SOU, Dave has helped facilitate the Lock-In event and annual that provides students with a hands-on experience of the justice system."},{"id":4821,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":"Ph.D.","first_name":"Brian","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Fedorek","location":"Southern Oregon University","background_text":"Brian Fedorek earned his doctorate at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania in Criminology. He has taught classes in Terrorism, Comparative Criminal Justice, Theories of Criminal Behavior, and introductory courses. His research interests include media and crime, criminological theory, and criminal violence. He has served on the board of the Western Association of Criminal Justice."},{"id":4822,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":"M.S.","first_name":"Tiffany","middle_name":"L.","last_name":"Morey","location":"Southern Oregon University","background_text":"Tiffany L. Morey has an almost three-decade career in the law enforcement arena. She retired as a Lieutenant from a police department in Las Vegas, Nevada. Her expertise is in the law enforcement, crime scene investigation (CSI), and forensics fields. During her tenure in policing in Las Vegas she worked in patrol, the crime prevention division, community services, recruitment, special events, problem-solving unit (first ever unit/substation for her department in a high gang and drug area), undercover prostitution and narcotics stings, search warrant service assistance, mounted unit departmental work, CSI (crime scene investigator), forensics, Sergeant and Sergeant field training program and master trainer, Lieutenant and Lieutenant field training program, and finally Acting Captain. During this time, she was also chosen and paid by an independent firm to travel the country and conduct oral board interviews and assessment center testing and recruiting for law enforcement agencies and fire departments. She developed a ground-breaking class to assist candidates in the law enforcement hiring process and is now under contract to publish the related textbook/study guide. Tiffany continues to operate in the field of CSI and forensics as an expert investigator and witness on violent crime. She also runs a Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) business, offering citizens and owners of businesses CPTED reviews to ensure the safety of their homes and buildings. Finally, in her free time, she runs SOAR Wildlife Center (SoarWildlife.org), which is a non-profit organization, that rehabilitates sick, injured, or orphaned fawns and other baby mammals."},{"id":4823,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":"J.D.","first_name":"Lore","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Rutz-Burri","location":"Southern Oregon University","background_text":"Lore Rutz-Burri is a 1982 graduate of Southern Oregon State College (now SOU) with a Bachelors of Arts degree in Criminology and Political Science. After graduating, she lived in Southern Austria until 1984. Upon returning to the states, she earned an M.C.J (Master’s degree in Criminal Justice) from the University of South Carolina. In 1985 she started in a Ph.D. program at the University of Maryland, College Park, but early on decided she would rather pursue a law degree. In 1989 she graduated “order of the coif” with her doctor of jurisprudence (JD) from the University of Oregon School of Law. Following law school, Lore clerked for the Superior Court of Alaska in Fairbanks for one year and then worked for 5 years as a deputy district attorney in Josephine County, Oregon. There, she prosecuted a variety of crimes, but mostly assault cases. In 1995, she began teaching criminology and criminal justice at SOU. Since 2015 she has been a part-time Circuit Court judge in the Josephine County courts. Lore has been married for over 27 years to her husband, Markus (a Swiss national). They have two sons– Severin (who studied at SOU and majored in psychology) and Jaston (who studied at U of O and majored in philosophy). She has both case books and introductory text on criminal law and criminal procedure."},{"id":4824,"contribution":"Author","primary":false,"corporate":false,"title":"Ph.D.","first_name":"Shanell","middle_name":null,"last_name":"Sanchez","location":"Southern Oregon University","background_text":"Shanell Sanchez joined the Criminology and Criminal Justice department at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon in 2016. Prior to that, Shanell was an Assistant Professor in Criminal Justice at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, Colorado. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Nebraska- Lincoln in Sociology in 2012. Her research and teaching interests are centered around social change and justice, inequality, and comparative crime and justice."}],"subjects":[{"id":63,"name":"Criminal Law","parent_subject_id":11,"call_number":"KB3790","visible_textbooks_count":20,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/criminal-law"},{"id":11,"name":"Law","parent_subject_id":null,"call_number":"KF385.A4","visible_textbooks_count":99,"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/law"}],"publishers":[{"id":665,"url":"https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/ccj230/","year":null,"created_at":"2019-03-17T12:20:27.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-03-17T12:20:27.000-05:00","name":"Open Oregon Educational Resources"}],"formats":[{"id":1186,"type":"Online","url":"https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/ccj230/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":1187,"type":"PDF","url":"https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/ccj230/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":1687,"type":"eBook","url":"https://openoregon.pressbooks.pub/ccj230/","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null},{"id":2104,"type":"Hardcopy","url":"http://www.lulu.com/shop/alison-s-burke-and-david-carter-and-brian-fedorek-and-tiffany-morey/introduction-to-the-american-criminal-justice-system/paperback/product-24027992.html","price":{"cents":0,"currency_iso":"USD"},"isbn":null}],"rating":"4","textbook_reviews_count":21,"reviews":[{"id":2770,"first_name":"Hollie","last_name":"Macdonald","position":"Lecturer","institution_name":"Longwood University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book covers all areas and ideas briefly. The book could explain some concepts in more depth, and also explain them in a less casual way. The glossary is good but not extensive of all concepts and also lacks accurate punctuation. ","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"The content is accurate but the examples are not always clear. The general idea that the author is trying to convey comes through in most examples but some of the examples leave the reader asking further questions that are never answered. The examples are great but seem like they should be added in a lecture to supplement the book, not in the book itself. ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The content is up to date, uses data and resources that are relevant. If updates are needed, they will not be difficult to add. ","clarity_rating":2,"clarity_review":"The text is written clearly and with accessible prose but the author refers to themselves, \"I\", many times which I do not think should occur in a college-level textbook. She gives examples based on her own experience which is fine but makes the book sound like a transcribed lecture, not necessarily an academic piece. ","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The text is consistent but also seems very causal in its presentation of concepts. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The text is easily readable and is broken up into logical sections. The flow is good. The author does give examples throughout and makes an effort to separate examples from the concepts and chapter content. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book is organized in a clear and logical way. The book's structure is similar to all other introduction to criminal justice textbooks that I have read and used in my courses. The book touches on policy and theory which is important in introduction to criminal justice classes because that is the material that the students will study in depth towards the end of their undergraduate education and in graduate school. ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The interface was fine, no problems. The table of contents was helpful and navigation was smooth. ","grammatical_rating":2,"grammatical_review":"The glossary has inconsistent punctuation. Sentences started with the word \"Because\". Grammar is casual at best. Does not come across to the educated reader as professional grammar and word usage. This might be intentional to connect with less educated readers (potentially first year students taking an introduction course). ","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"The author uses first person throughout the book which undermines the \"seriousness\". When students are reading this material we want them to feel as if the information is important and coming from an objective source. The book gives good information but does not seem objective with examples and stories about the author. ","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"Overall, the book looks promising. It covers basic concepts that set the foundation for learning but there are things that could be improved. As an undergraduate level instructor in the field, who has read many similar textbooks, this one seems casual in its prose and explanations. The book could be great for a high school criminal justice class but I would not recommend as the only textbook in a college level class. If this book were to be used at the college level it would need to be accompanied by supplemental materials that provide a clear more professional explanation of the concepts.  ","created_at":"2019-04-11T19:19:39.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-04-11T19:19:39.000-05:00"},{"id":2802,"first_name":"Raymond","last_name":"Delaney","position":"Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice","institution_name":"Southern University at New Orleans","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book addressed the key areas of the criminal justice system. Each component (courts, cops, and corrections) were reflected of key elements essential to the operation of the justice system. Please provide more detail information in a nuanced form. For someone who may not be familiar with the operation of the system or an incoming majoring student, they may have more questions than answers for their curiosity. Subjects are briefly addressed and then the section abruptly ends. Definitions could be more defined, most of the key terms had one very brief but not concise definition. ","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"Information in each section appears appropriate. The authors may want to consider providing more substantive and clarifying depth to the subject matter. After reading certain areas, I was looking for a follow-up example or closure to the subject. ","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"Attempt to provide key cases that change public opinion. I reviewed the authors' insight on Michael Brown and the Ferguson incident. However, the author could have drawn parallels from other landmark incidents such as Tamir Rice and Trayvon Martin. Consider including information that addresses the lack of reporting and tracking by law enforcement on excessive force. No mention of black lives matter existed. ","clarity_rating":1,"clarity_review":"Clarity would be an area or need for major or significant improvement. ","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"The text is consistent in the subject matter. However, it is also consistently lacking depth. ","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The text is broken into readable and identifiable sections. Easy flow and follow through. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"This section would be of great strength. The structure and flow of the text would align to most or traditional introductory textbook. The organization of the subject matter or key elements were notable. ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"No significant or major issues of concern. ","grammatical_rating":3,"grammatical_review":"The authors overuse too many pronouns. Perhaps, using clear subject-verb agreements as it relates to the topic could help minimize overly used terms such as “This.”","cultural_rating":2,"cultural_review":"Cultural relevancy and sensitivity would be an area of strengthening. The text focuses heavily on the negative occurrences that affect African Americans. Rightfully so, since African Americans have faced such bigotry, hatred, and racism as an ethnicity. However, the authors may want to find leaders of significant roles in criminal justice. Search and include positive situations or stories that African Americans could be of a positivist in the criminal justice system. ","overall_rating":7,"overall_review":"I commend the authors attempt to provide a resource available to fragile collegiate students. However, the text overall lack clear and concise subject matters. The authors may want to focus on providing depth. If I were to include this in my syllabus, it would need additional resources or references that could potentially appear burdensome to an incoming freshmen/sophomore student. Please highlight major key cases and/or events that shaped and formed form public opinion and outcry. ","created_at":"2019-04-18T08:03:57.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-04-18T08:03:57.000-05:00"},{"id":2854,"first_name":"Geraldine","last_name":"Doucet","position":"Associate Professor of Criminal Justice/Juvenile Justice","institution_name":"Southern University and A\u0026M College, Baton Rouge, LA","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"Extensive and thorough coverage of the three criminal justice segments, the functions, operations, interdependence and interrelation of the three are clearly addressed from the onset. The trends, current challenges, court cases, as well as Constitutional, legal, moral, social, political issues relevant in the criminal justice system are scholarly presented. The manner in which this textbook is written, actually ‘engages with’ and ‘talks with’ the students throughout the book using statements like— “let us go back to our example (p. 18) …. or “Imaging sitting in the college classroom with (p. 17)…”). Then there are the Internet links presented throughout the textbook making further connection to the discussions at hand.  These activities are presented within the discussions and not merely at the end of the chapter presentation as is the case with some textbooks. This allows the student to stay engaged with the topic of discussion as it is occurring, thereby making the knowledge powerful and impactful. \r\n\r\nThe book’s appearance is not as attractive as its content, which is rich with various illustrations, exercises, critical thinking challenges, and other activities that engages the student throughout the book. The content is easy reading both in terms of the knowledge shared as well as on the readers’ eyes. The organization of the textbook is one of its’ greatest attraction. The chapter discussions are well integrated with examples and Internet sources that illustrate the point(s) being made.  Moreover, the chapters are short yet powerful with knowledge that is presented in a clear, concise, and synchronized manner. \r\n\r\nThe language used throughout the book is applicable for an introductory level course in criminal justice/criminology that makes this book student-friendly and easy to read. The use of language is crucial in any discipline, and the authors did an excellent job in their communicative delivery. In addition to the glossary at the end of the textbook, each chapter presents an illustrative use of the key concepts for students’ understanding. The modular presentation of the material does not overwhelm the student with information. By instead, allows students to absorb an adequate amount of information per chapters/sections. The materials presented in the book are powerful, descriptive, well balanced with knowledge, pictures, illustrations, activities, and especially critical thinking that engages students in the discussions. \r\n\r\nThe textbook is well organized; starting each chapter with learning objectives followed by thought provoking “knowledge probes” or “assessments activities” leading into the discussion(s). Writing (i.e., a written reaction to a situation…p.45 or p.187) and critical thinking (i.e., critical thinking questions or “what do you think” moments…p. 160) skills are highly demanding in a Criminal Justice career/field and this textbook presents opportunities to engage the students in doing both. Our students upon graduating will need scholar writing, legal writing, and some technical writing skills; therefore, any form of writing is of value. \r\n\r\n","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"What is in the textbook seems accurate. The problem is what is also accurate may be missing from the Textbook. More of the popular criminological theories in Criminal Justice could be more inclusive, as restated in the Clarity section of this Review. \r\n\r\n","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"It looks like the textbook does not address cybercrime, terrorism, nor environmental crimes.  Also, there is no mentioning of hate crimes. All these types of crime are prevalent today in America and throughout the world. You may want to add these types of crimes in the revised textbook or future textbook. The textbook can also benefit and Index section, which I also mentioned under the Organization section of the Review. \r\n\r\nIn addition, it may not be a bad idea to add a brief section/caption on the growth and expansion of criminology since its origin. Discuss the subcategories of criminology, such as penology, victimology, peacemaking criminology (i.e., restorative justice), convict criminology, and green criminology (i.e., environmental crime and harm). Explain how these came about.  This information can be presented either in Chapter 1-Crime, Criminal Justice, and Criminology or Chapter-5-Criminological Theory, of the Textbook. \r\n\r\nChapter 6-Recruitment and Hiring Websites for Future Careers—This chapter could have been more inclusive by addressing a brief history on changes in the qualifications of police officers, such as educational requirements, the introduction of on-going professional development, and/or the growth of specialization due to technology and globalization. The presentation of the Website listing of law enforcement agencies could have been accompanied by more relevant ‘TEXT’ information.  \r\n\r\nLastly, in Chapter 10—Juvenile Justice and particularly 10.6—Due Process in the Juvenile Court the textbook acknowledged due process related landmark court cases from 1966 to 1976. The authors may want to update the due process information on juvenile matters especially since there have been over 16 more landmark cases since that time. \r\n","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"\r\nThe clarity issue in this textbook has more to do with the presentation of materials, such as p. 201 the “Father of modern law enforcement”, yet his name is nowhere on that page where his picture is. One would have to find it on a page before. This is the same with various Tables or Charts (i.e., Mendelsohn’s Typology of Crime Victim which is mentioned as a title on page 57 and the Chart itself is presented on page 58. \r\nThere is also the presentation of the positivist school of criminology with limited acknowledgement of Cesare Lombroso contributions and no picture of him; yet, there are pictures of the other men mentioned. There is no acknowledgement of Cesare Lombroso being credited with being the “Father of criminology” and why. This is somewhat missing critical information.  Chapter 5 is the chapter that probably needs to be improve with greater content information and illustrations, when possible, on theories that are popular in criminal justice, like Robert Agnew’s general strain theory; Gottfredson \u0026 Hirsch’s self-control theory/general crime theory;  the developmental theories, such as latent theory by Moffitt or others, and life course theories (Aged-graded Theory) by Sampson and Laub. \r\n","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The picture on page 340, which is labeled “People Incarcerated in the U.S.” and the same picture on page 353 (i.e., labeled “Correctional Control by Type 1975-2016) are the same, However, on page 353 the caption underneath the picture says 'Correctional Control by Type 1975-2016', with no years are being shown. It this a mistake or is this how it is meant to be?;","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Another strength of this textbook is the use of a modular approach to present the materials. This approach is manageable and self-directed, which makes it easier for students to read and absorb the knowledge.  Given the fact that criminal justice/criminology are interdisciplinary/multidisciplinary studies, the modular approach is excellent. The integration of knowledge is more effective and successful. This is great for the students’ course enrichment, which is what every author/textbook should strive to achieve. It is certainly what every instructors want--for students to READ the BOOK.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Except for grammatical errors and a few suggested additions needed, the organization structure of the textbook is good. There are some problems with the flow or transition of materials when referring to pictures, tables, and/or charts. They are not always synchronizing perfectly with each other.  Lastly, the addition of an Index section in the back of the book would be useful. \r\n\r\n","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"Excellent job combining/blending the criminal justice and criminology knowledge together without sacrificing one discipline over the other. If there is one exception, it would be Chapter 5 when blending the criminology theory that are more popular in criminal justice as oppose to sociology or psychology, for instance.  \r\n\r\n","grammatical_rating":3,"grammatical_review":"Several minor grammatical errors that needs corrections, such as font size corrections (p. 37).  Revisit pages 40 and 41 with the exception of the material written in the gray boxes (or illustration captions) the words on page 40 is the exact same as the words on page 41. However, the numbered footnotes are different (8 \u0026 13). The word “Misdemeanor” could be placed on page 56 (to include the work with the definition. Bring the caption “Mendelsohn’s Typology of Crime Victims from page 57 to page 58—with the chart—it makes for a better connection of the material. Do the same with Table 1 title (Criminal Justice Frames and Examples of Narratives) on page 114, move it to page 115 so that the Title is over the Table? ","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"There is room for some improvement by showing greater diversity beyond black and white. This textbook is about America’s criminal justice system; let that also reflect all culture/subcultures in this great country","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"Overall, this is a very good beginner’s textbook for an Introduction Course and can further be useful as a supplementary and resource book as the student continues to pursue their criminal justice/criminology education. Chapter 4-Criminal Justice Policy is uniquely presented as a separate chapter. This is significant because often policy in Criminal Justice is a topic that is given a low priority or put-on-the-backburner in an Introduction course, nonetheless is vital. Nearly everything about criminal justice impacts policy, whether it involves, reform, re-entry, community corrections, sentencing, to mention a few. Chapter 4 is a great selling point for this textbook. This textbook will be read by the student because of how the material is presented—student friendly, simple, easy reading, which is significant. As an instructor, I want a book that my students would pick up to read because it is quick and easy to read with clear understanding. Moreover, the student learning outcomes postulated in the chapters can be achieved using this textbook.  Except for the minor criticism offered, I like the textbook. It is my opinion that it well suited when working with students enrolled in dual-credit programs (with criminal justice as a college major) as well as an entry-level college student majoring in criminal justice.  ","created_at":"2019-04-27T18:34:28.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-04-27T18:34:28.000-05:00"},{"id":3118,"first_name":"Sarah","last_name":"Fischer","position":"Assistant Professor ","institution_name":"Marymount University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book has fairly comprehensive chapters, but lacks a conclusion or any acknowledgement of what it leaves out (gender issues in CJ, cybercrime, comparative criminal justice, etc.). It isn’t that the book needs a chapter on each of these additional topics, it just needs to acknowledge they are part of the field.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"Unfortunately, this book contains a few substantive errors (such as stating murder is the only crime for which one can receive the death penalty in the United States).","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The text was finished in 2019 and consequently is very timely. It is most relevant for CJ classes in Oregon, as many of the examples and links are Oregon-specific (many pages link to State of Oregon police agency application websites, for example).","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Overall, very clearly written.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"Consistent in terms of terminology. The framework of the chapters varies by author—some of the co-authors here include links to great resources (podcasts, television shows, and TED talks) that could easily be the basis of assignments. Other include almost no links to outside resources.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Very easily divisible.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Well-organized chapters. Some chapters repeat information from other chapters. Chapters do not flow into each other or have ideas/themes that carry across chapters (depending on how instructor wants to use the text, could be useful or not useful).","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"Some image distortion in charts, graphs, and text.","grammatical_rating":2,"grammatical_review":"Grammar and formatting errors appear in every chapter.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"The book is aimed at readers with no or positive previous experiences with police and/or the criminal justice system as a whole. If that is not the experience of your students, I would recommend looking at the specific chapter of this book you intend to use—the chapters vary in their inclusivity.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":null,"created_at":"2019-07-26T10:48:16.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-07-26T10:48:16.000-05:00"},{"id":3222,"first_name":"Jolene","last_name":"Sundlie","position":"Sociology Instructor","institution_name":"Minnesota State University System","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text does a great job of covering a great majority of topics one would find in a typical Introduction to Criminal Justice textbook. The book combines topics that might be covered separately in a 16-17 chapter textbook, which I think is great. Instructors can expand on the topics they choose. I do wish there was more coverage on specific types of crimes, and I did not see any inclusion of cyber crime at any point in the text.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I did not see any glaring errors or inaccuracies.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This textbook is extremely up-to-date. There are many sections labeled \"Current Issues\" and they are, in fact, current! My only concern is how often can/will this book be updated so it remains relevant.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"I found the writing to be inviting and accessible and think my students at the community college level would agree. Terms are explained well and the book includes a glossary that offers concise definitions.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"I found the content and style of writing to be consistent from chapter-to-chapter, even though the authors changed from section to section. Each chapter included boxes containing additional information and discussion questions or assignment ideas.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I really liked the way this book was divided into 10 chapters and within each chapter there were several numbered sections. This would make it much easier to break up reading in a larger chapter (e.g. Chapter 1) into sections, rather than by page number.  If an instructor wanted to reorder the chapters, the material would still make sense.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"This textbook follows the typical and expected organization of topics for an Introduction to Criminal Justice book. Some topics that would usually be found a separate chapters were combined under more robust chapter titles.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"My only criticism is that I did not care for how references were cited. Sometimes, there was a link within the text and other times a footnote. I would prefer a consistent method. Though the links all worked fine.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I found no grammatical errors throughout the book.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"I did not find any comments or references that I found to be insensitive or culturally inappropriate, but there is not much coverage of race or ethnicity other than in statistics.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I could not tell if there were any instructor resources for this book. Some Open textbooks have them, some do not, but it would be helpful if there was a clearer indication if there were any. \r\nI would prefer an academic book not use Wikipedia as a reference when many of us will not accept it from our students.","created_at":"2019-10-27T18:12:14.000-05:00","updated_at":"2019-10-27T18:12:14.000-05:00"},{"id":3270,"first_name":"Ami","last_name":"Stearns","position":"Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice","institution_name":"University of Louisiana at Lafayette","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The textbook covers many similar topics as other introductory textbooks in the field, particularly in the areas of courts, corrections, and police. However, it lacks attention to \"emerging crimes\" (global terrorism, cybercrime, hate crime) and victimization. While some of these concepts are introduced, such as victim typologies in Ch 1, I believe emerging crimes and victimization should be stand-alone chapters. The Theory chapter does not prioritize or attend to feminist criminology, which should be added to the canon of Very Important Theories. Further, the book could benefit from either a chapter introducing concepts of intersectionality issues, or at least incorporate concepts of race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation, and ability, as these identities relate to crime and punishment, among the existing content. The chapters are short and concise, packing in critical information along with relevant links to outside media, outside readings, critical thinking exercises, and incorporation of current events/news to bring relevancy to the content. Overall, I believe the book is comprehensive enough for an introductory level class, although I wish it had supplemental materials for instructors.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I did not see any factual errors, yet much of the content and examples are geared toward Oregon culture, laws, and customs, which I know little about.\r\nI'm not sure if this is a matter of Accuracy, but please, please, please do not link to Wikipedia. To me, this is the book's most significant drawback. Wikipedia is not used as an academic source for papers, it should not be used as even a source of information about people, places, or phenomena. This reliance on Wikipedia negatively impacts the validity of the entire textbook. ","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The incorporation of news items as examples and links to online media, along with attention to current events in the content, means this text is relevant and up to date. If I had to complain, the textbook authors should make the examples more inclusive of the national criminal justice system overall, rather than concentrating on Oregon. As far as longevity, I have concerns about web links that may change, and wonder if the book would be better served by including links for each chapter as part of supplemental materials, as it is far easier to update supplemental materials than an entire textbook. While it is difficult to publish a textbook that remains up to date without a tremendous yearly effort, yet this book will certainly be relevant for the next few years.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is very accessible for first year university students, but sometimes the writing is so casual, it would be better suited to, for example, a blog. I have gone back and forth on my opinion about this characteristic of the textbook's language. On one hand, I really do not like the casual writing because it may diminish the validity of the content. On the other hand, the casual writing does lend an air of having a conversation with the reader, rather than relying on traditional textbooks' standard one-way information delivery. After considering the pros and cons, I believe that the casual writing helps distinguish this textbook from others in the field that are extremely dry (and they are all, almost without fail, extremely dry), and that this should be considered a strength. It is a very different approach to communicating with students and I would be interested to assess students' reactions to the writing style.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The presentation of content is consistent among chapters, but I do notice that some of the writers are more casual than others, so that there are stylistic differences among chapters, though it is slight. For example, some chapters use the \"I\" voice and some do not. Perhaps this brings up a teachable moment in class, though. I often point out to students that textbooks are not created in a vacuum, but rather are a product of real people. Some authors structure the chapters differently, which may be problematic for students who need consistency.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The modules are self contained and very easy to read. A significant strength of this book are the short modules. These are beneficial to work with students' short attention spans.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book is organized, logical, and clear. The organization of information is similar to many other introductory textbooks in the field.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The textbook is extremely easy to navigate. I did not see any distortion problems on my monitor. Distortion may occur on different monitors, or on an e-reader, etc.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"There are a few errors throughout, mainly typos or missing punctuation. The textbook would benefit from more copy editing at some point.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I do not see cultural insensitivity in this textbook, however, as I mentioned at the beginning of my review, it would benefit from inclusion of matters related to race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, etc.  The individuals in positions of authority in the textbook photos are not always white, which has sometimes been a problem in older criminal justice textbooks.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I have decided to pilot this textbook next year in my introductory class. If I am able to update my review with information about student reactions to the textbook and my own impressions of its value and use, I will do so.","created_at":"2019-11-11T09:24:29.000-06:00","updated_at":"2019-11-11T09:24:29.000-06:00"},{"id":3277,"first_name":"Chris","last_name":"Palmore","position":"Visiting Assistant Professor","institution_name":"University of Louisiana at Lafayette","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text does a good job of covering the main issues of the American criminal justice system. There are chapters for the main topics, including crime, measuring crime, policing, courts, and corrections. There is also an interesting section on victimization, which many texts do not cover. Missing potential chapters like drugs and crime, mental health and crime, terrorism, bias-motivated crimes, cybercrimes, and comparative criminal justice. There is a discussion of Public Policy, which is great and something that I have not seen in any introductory text so far. \r\n","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I did not see any accuracy issues, minus a few grammatical errors. ","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The text's omission of key social factors related to crime (i.e., race, sex) hurt the overall rating of content relevance. However, the organization of the text makes it so additions can be made with ease. The current issues boxes will need to be updated as time goes on, but that is also something that can be done easily. Some of the references were specific to a state, so a more multi-state approach could enhance the impact of the text. ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The writing is clear and easy to understand. Jargon and technical terms are defined in easy to understand language. Overall, the authors used simplistic language suitable for an introductory course in Criminal Justice. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Overall the writing and framework were consistent throughout the chapters. It was a little clear that different people wrote different chapters by writing style, but I'm not sure how much that would affect the overall consistency of the text or if students would notice such a thing. Each module is set up similarly, and the overall critical framework remains in each section. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The modularity of the text is a strong point. Each section can be broken down into smaller chunks and lessons. The flow of information was nice and it laid out clear learning objectives from the start of each chapter. I also thought the critical thinking questions at the beginning of each section were a nice introduction to each module and got me thinking about the material prior to reading the material. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"I thought the text was logically organized and easy to follow. Similar to other introductory texts. ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I really liked the interface of the text. All the sources and links worked on my PC, but I did not attempt to pull them up on my phone or tablet. Overall, the interface made it really easy to navigate. The table of contents opened up into sections, which made skipping through to relevant sections easy. ","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"Minor grammatical mistakes and would benefit from some copyediting. ","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The text is inclusive and does not alienate groups or individuals with specific backgrounds, however, it also pushes some of these major issues aside. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I did not see any teaching resources available with the text. Although many professors already have some made up, having some come with the text ensures that all the information is relevant. I thought this was a pretty good introductory criminal justice text and am considering adopting this for my Summer 2020 course. ","created_at":"2019-11-11T17:26:30.000-06:00","updated_at":"2019-11-11T17:26:30.000-06:00"},{"id":3290,"first_name":"Katie","last_name":"Cali","position":"Instructor of Sociology and Criminal Justice ","institution_name":"Northshore Technical Community College ","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This textbook covers the major topics need for an Introduction to Criminal Justice course. Topics are not explained in deep detail, but seems to be decent descriptions for an introductory level course. I would like to see this textbook expanded to include a few more chapters, such as terrorism, cybercrime and drugs. Nonetheless, the book does seem to be written in a way that should be comprehensible for Intro-level students. ","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"As far as I could tell from my readings, the information and content matter appears to be accurate; however, as stated above, the content could use a little extra clarity. ","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Currently, the textbook is up-to-date. As with all books, as new events emerge the book may need to be updated to accurately represent the issues in society. I like the \"Current Issues\" displayed in the text. \r\nThis text would benefit from writing with inclusion to other races, nationalities, genders, sexual orientations, etc. As a Sociologist with a Criminal Justice background, I have found the best way to discuss the CJ system is by presenting the various experiences from a variety of lifestyles. Nonetheless, the style of the textbook provides a relatively easy structure for making updates/additions to the text. ","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Academic jargon is explained enough to educate students in an introductory course, though some areas lack crucial details to ensure the understanding. As mentioned before, some of the examples and/or topics could use a little more detail or explanation to make the text have a higher clarity level. \r\nI find the style of the writing interesting for a textbook, as the authors refer to themselves in parts of the text. However, this style of writing may attract the readers attention while providing a connection between the book and the students in a way that other books cannot. ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"I find the textbook to be consistent, even if the writing style of the various authors are not consistent. The additional incepts and discussion topics help to promote a consistent structure for the text. ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I find the modular structure of the textbook to be concise and beneficial to the instructors as well as the students. The clearly defined learning objective and the questions to ponder engage the reader and prepares the brain for the topic at hand. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"I find this textbook to be well organized. The topics are presented in a logical and clear fashion. One may easily navigate themselves through the book with little to no struggle. Organized similar to other Introduction textbooks.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"Throughout my use of this book, I did not find any major interface issues to be concerned about. Images were clear and organized and the book was very easy to navigate. ","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"I did see a few minor grammatical errors. Majority of the issues were in the glossary. One more editing session would clear these issues right up. ","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"During this review, I did not find culturally offensive or insensitive writing. However, I do feel this textbook needs to strength its level of inclusion, as mentioned earlier. This textbook seems to obviously be written from a white perspective and could use diversity to culturally enhance this text. ","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"As a pioneer into the OER world, I believe this textbook is a great beginning, As with all pieces of work, there is definitely room to grow, which could enhance the overall experience from this text significantly. I plan to recommend this textbook to the department as a possible adoption.  ","created_at":"2019-11-15T14:43:18.000-06:00","updated_at":"2019-11-15T14:43:18.000-06:00"},{"id":3352,"first_name":"Jennifer","last_name":"Dannels","position":"Lead Instructor - Criminal Justice/Paralegal Studies ","institution_name":"Northshore Technical Community College ","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"Considering this is an introductory course, I thought this textbook did a nice job of covering a vast amount of material.  I really liked how the book covered policy - particularly how and why criminal justice policies are created and change.  The textbook I am currently using does not cover fake news, myths, and how crime is portrayed in the media at all - so I am happy to see these topics covered here and I think my students will find these topics interesting as well.  \r\n\r\nWhile overall comprehensive for an introductory course, I did not see coverage of the following topics within each main category:  (1) Police - their various duties including predicting crime through Compstat/crime mapping; 4th Amendment and how it relates to search/seizures and warrants; and police interrogations/Miranda warnings; (2) Courts - types of evidence, types of witnesses (lay and expert), and juries; (3) Corrections - eras of corrections and prison life/culture itself - such as prisoner's rights, security threat groups, discipline in prison, and grievance procedures.  While I do think these topics should have been briefly mentioned, I do realize that other Criminal Justice courses cover these topics in great detail (i.e., Police Systems and Practices, Judicial Processes, and Introduction to Corrections).  Thus, students will eventually cover these materials in great depth so these omissions do not necessarily concern me.  However, I also would have like to seen a small section on drugs, terrorism, and cybercrime, in addition to a brief history of crime in the United States (i.e., prohibition and organized crime, increase in violent crime in 1960's/1970's, War on Drugs in 1980's, rise of white-collar crime and terrorism, etc.) \r\n\r\nI also thought that some topics, while covered/mentioned, could have used just a bit more coverage - most notably, the pretrial (bail, arraingment, etc.) and criminal trial process itself.  While briefly described in Chapter 1, I will probably spend a bit more time on this in my classes given that it provides a good overview of how the criminal justice system actually works.  While this text dedicates a good amount of coverage to theory and policy, I thought it could have provided a bit more detail on the actual process itself.  I also thought the \"use of force\" section was too short, but it would be easy enough for an instructor to find current examples in the news to discuss in class in more detail.  \r\n","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I am not aware of any substantive errors.  Most errors I saw were grammatical and in the glossary (i.e., descriptions of new and older generation jails).  Nothing major though.  ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This book has lots of references to current events which I think the students will find relatable.  Of course, more relative events will continue to occur -- but the instructor will just have to be mindful of this fact and update as they teach the course.  This is no different than with any other Criminal Justice textbook.  ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The writing was clear and to the point with lots of examples to help demonstrate concepts.  Some reviewers found the text a bit too informal, but I think students will appreciate the straight-forward language.  ","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The overall framework of each chapter was consistent, although the \"voice\" of the author differs between chapters.  Some authors are more formal than others -- but I think it still flows nicely and works.  ","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I really like how the chapters were divided up into smaller sections, making it easy to skip sections, add sections, or vary the order.  Each section was also a relatively short size which makes it easier for students to identify the issues or put their notes into outline formats.  ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The topics are presented in a logical and clear fashion.  Each chapter begins with learning objectives and critical thinking questions which could easily be turned into interesting assignments and class discussions.  ","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"I did not experience any interface or navigation issues.  The Table of Contents made it easy to jump from section to section.  ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"Overall, I did not see many grammatical errors (with the exception of a few minor grammar issues in the glossary).","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text was not culturally insensitive or offensive.  While race and gender issues may not have been directly addressed in its own section, I think these issues can be easily inserted into other sections (i.e., police shootings, use of force, community policing, sentencing, death penalty, etc.).  ","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"Overall, I really like this text (more so than the book I am currently using), and I plan to recommend that my department adopt it.  The writing is clear and will be easy for students to read and comprehend.  I also think the examples and references to recent events will allow students to relate to the material and realize the significance of these events to their everyday lives.  This textbook also includes several interesting assignments throughout the text that instructors can choose to assign (or not).  I'm looking forward to developing my Intro to Criminal Justice course using this book.  While some reviewers wished to see more supplemental material, the lack of it does not bother me.  I have my own teaching style, and I like to create my own presentations/assignments/quizzes/exams anyway.  This book gives me a great foundation on which to build.  ","created_at":"2019-12-05T21:02:15.000-06:00","updated_at":"2019-12-05T21:02:15.000-06:00"},{"id":3544,"first_name":"Zerita","last_name":"Hall","position":"Senior Lecturer","institution_name":"University of Texas at Arlington","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The authors of this book; \"Introduction to the American Criminal Justice System\", did a great job.  Comparing it to my required textbook for purchase by other authors, this book covered most of the material and is comprehensive.  This book is cultural and systemic relative to the topics of today.  The glossary could be a little more expansive, but overall - good job. Although there is no index, considering this book is online a simple navigation of tabs - students can easily find what they are looking for.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Given the introductory text, it can be concluded that this book is unbiased.  Dealing with Criminal Justice and its topics, I have it easy for authors to speak more from their view point than stats and facts.  This book, however, gives actually data on issues that matter.  For instance, in Chapter 6-Stereotypes in Policing; this could be guarded as opinion, but in this industry, they state the facts of groups as a whole.  The reader can get a more realistic sense of how to view possible perpetrators as well as the police.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"There is relevant information in the text.  With current insight on gangs, juveniles, examples of immigration and genocide, to statistics, interviewing skills of police, surveys/studies - advances and updates to this text can easily be made.  The examples given are contextualized so that whatever current event is going on a student will get the point being made. Additionally, because of the examples with hyperlinks, students/instructors can link more examples.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"This book is an easy read and easy to follow and understand.  Due to the nature of the criminal justice field, our terminology is steady and so is theirs throughout the book.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Although some chapters could have been flushed out a little more, there is linear connection quantity and quality among the chapters.  Content is effective applicable.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The text is broken down into small blocks within the titles.  This makes for easy reading and following.  Certain chapters are referenced in other chapters and it was easy to understand the thought process behind it.  I do think, certain topics could have been more defined in terms of identifying more content for example sake. ","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The topics in this text are presented in a logical, clear an linear fashion, which is very helpful to the instructor and student.  Looking specifically at the Wedding Cake Model as an example, the authors expressed clear descriptions, pictures and explanations of content. Other topics flow well also.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"All images checked- charts, graphs, hyperlinks, gray-text boxes pink-text boxes and pictures are problem-free.  Pictures such as examples of classical conditioning is animated and well-placed in such a way, a student can easily understand the concepts presented. ","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I found no grammatical errors in this text.  The book is well written and formatted.  ","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I found this textbook is not to be culturally insensitive or offensive.  The examples and photos used of races, ethnicities and backgrounds are appropriate and relevant to the subject and content being presented.  Considering multiple authors on this project, a good variety of perspectives are included in the text.  The student learns from a varied perspective throughout the text.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"Overall, good textbook, I plan to use it along with other resources.","created_at":"2020-01-28T13:18:39.000-06:00","updated_at":"2020-01-28T13:18:39.000-06:00"},{"id":3552,"first_name":"Riane","last_name":"Bolin","position":"Assistant Professor ","institution_name":"Radford University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This textbook is comparable to most other introduction textbooks on the market in terms of the content.  However, one topic included in this textbook that is often integrated into other chapters is criminal justice policy.  I appreciate that there is a chapter specifically devoted to this topic as its importance is often understated in other texts.  I also appreciate that there is a whole chapter on criminological theories as well.  Several texts will either exclude this topic or will integrate it within another chapter, often not giving it the attention that it deserves.  ","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"I did not find any inaccuracies within the content.  However, there are a couple areas throughout the text that I believe would benefit from further elaboration and explanation. ","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The textbook provides the \"nuts and bolts\" of the criminal justice system, including its history, development, and current issues.  With that being said, the only information that will need to be updated with some frequency is the current issues facing the system and changes to the system as well as any current events and examples.  This task should be relatively easy and straightforward and could be done every so often as opposed to yearly.  ","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book is easy to read and I think the content will be easily digestible for undergraduate students.  The authors write in a conversational manner which I believe will be appealing to students.  Unnecessary academic jargon is avoided and key terms are defined in ways in which someone new to criminal justice would be able to understand.","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"Overall, the text is relatively consistent in terms of terminology.  Framework, on the other hand, varies by author.  Some authors include lots of activities and external resources, while others include few to none.   Another inconsistency is the tone and writing style of the different chapters. Some authors have a different writing style than others.  A final inconsistency, which may not be of great concern, is the subsection length.  There are some chapters (and even subsections) that are more detailed than others.  One recommendation I would have for the authors is to make each subsection relatively equal in length.  Most sections take up 3-4 pages, but there are some sections that are covered across 6-7 pages.  This is not as big of a deal if the student has the print version, but online, the larger sections require a lot of scrolling, which may discourage them from reading all of the content.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The authors have done an excellent job of dividing each chapter into small reading sections.  It would be very easy for a professor to tailor the textbook readings to meet the needs of how they teach the course.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The topics are presented in a logical and clear fashion and mirror the way in which information is presented in similar texts.  However, I would encourage the authors to provide a more detailed table of contents for the online book.  While the print version of the textbook, provides a detailed table of contents the online version provides only the title chapters.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"Overall, I encountered few significant interface issues.  However, there were places where the spacing was weird or there were inconsistencies in font type.  There were also a few images that appeared distorted.  In some cases, this was likely due to the age and quality of the original picture.  Some graphs were also distorted (i.e., that appeared stretched out and disproportionate).  While I did not click on every link available, I clicked on several and did not encounter any broken links.","grammatical_rating":2,"grammatical_review":"I found a number of grammatical and typographical errors throughout.  While most were minor and would not inhibit the student from understanding the information that was being communicated, they were still distracting.  Also, there were numerous formatting errors with the references.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"I did not find any of the content to be culturally insensitive or offensive in any way.  However, examples from the book focus a lot on Oregon.  While I understand this is where the authors are currently working, for those outside of Oregon, it would be nice to have examples from a wide variety of locations.  There could be a more detailed discussion of the impact of race and gender within the criminal justice system. ","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"This book has a number of strengths including that it is written in a manner in which an undergraduate or someone new to criminal justice would understand, it includes a number of links to current events and stories that could be used for class discussion, student activities are provided, and, most importantly, it covers the necessary content.  However, there are some areas in which the book could be improved.  Having a consistent tone throughout regardless of the author would make the book easier to read.  Further, a thorough editing of the text is needed as there are a number of grammatical and typographical errors throughout.  Additionally, adding more examples from states other than Oregon would make it more marketable to professors working in other states.  Overall, I think the content is there, it just needs some editing and formatting. ","created_at":"2020-01-29T20:52:42.000-06:00","updated_at":"2020-01-29T20:52:42.000-06:00"},{"id":4656,"first_name":"Brittany","last_name":"Ripper","position":"Adjunct Professor","institution_name":"American University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The book covered the core components of law enforcement, courts, and corrections. However, greater detail was needed in certain areas. For example, the book listed defenses to a criminal charge, but did not provide explanations of these defenses. Also, life-course theory was never mentioned.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"Overall, the content is accurate, but key details are missing in certain chapters. For example, the book tells readers that judges sentence individuals convicted of a crime. While that is true in most cases, Kentucky still has jury sentencing, and Virginia only recently abolished this practice. Moreover, juries are used in death penalty cases. In regard to bias, one author claims that the defense attorney in the Ford Pinto homicide trial won the case because he was friends with the judge. This case could have been described in a more neutral way.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Many current events and pop culture references are made. These events were usually contained within text boxes, so they could be easily updated over time.","clarity_rating":3,"clarity_review":"The book needs a significant amount of editing. There are several sentences that are missing words, particularly in the first few chapters. Jargon like \"district attorney\" and \"Schedule I\" is sometimes used without explanation. Bolded terms do not have clear definitions.","consistency_rating":3,"consistency_review":"Chapters are written by individual authors and there is no standard chapter organizational framework.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I would definitely recommend assigning particular sections of this textbook, as opposed to assigning the textbook in its entirety. Each chapter is broken down into digestible sections.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The book is appropriately organized by topic.","interface_rating":3,"interface_review":"Pictures included within the text are often fuzzy or unusually large. Additionally, there is inconsistent use of text boxes separating chunks of text from the main body of the chapter. Several links to websites are broken.","grammatical_rating":3,"grammatical_review":"There are grammatical errors throughout the book, which affects its credibility and could inhibit students' learning.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The book does not go out of its way to be inclusive, but there are no insensitive or offensive statements within it. It would be nice if the term \"offender\" was replaced with \"accused\" or \"individual convicted of a crime.\"","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"The chapters on policing are wonderful and full of practical information. They are written by a former police officer who discusses her firsthand experience. I will likely be using the chapter on police recruitment in my future criminal justice courses.","created_at":"2021-02-26T16:32:52.000-06:00","updated_at":"2021-03-23T10:01:12.000-05:00"},{"id":4962,"first_name":"Ziwei","last_name":"Qi","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Fort Hays State University","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The overall structure of the textbook is comprehensive. The authors strategically design the book for readers who needs an overall introduction understanding on the American criminal justice system. It includes an overview on crime, deviance, and justice system, scientific measurement on crime and crime trend, legal aspects of the criminal/procedure laws, sociopolitical impact on legal policy, criminological theories, the three pillars of the criminal justice system (i.e., policing, court, and correction), and the juvenile justice system. In each of these sections, the authors were able to provide both case studies and statistical information to the readers. One drawback of the content is its information can be outdated due to some statistics were in 2017.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The information presented in the current textbook was accurate with empirical and theoretical evidences as backup.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"As previously mentioned, the authors could update some of the statistical analysis and research results by incorporating most recent research. While updating the information, the authors could also consider to add an additional chapter on how the Covid-19 pandemic shifted the dynamic of criminal justice system.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The charity level of the current textbook was overall good. In some chapters, such as criminal trial procedure chapter, authors can consider to incorporate infographic for beginning learners.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"Overall the text is internally consistent with minor terms discrepancies, which may due to multiple authorships.","modularity_rating":4,"modularity_review":"The authors had done an excellent job in modularity. Each section has its own theme and content, and it can be taught in segment.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The organization of the current text is good with very detailed and professional edits in the fine details of the content matter.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The interface of the current text is good.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"No grammatical errors were noticed.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"No cultural insensitivity was detected.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I believe this is a great book for beginners in criminal justice, law, and political sciences. I applaud that the authors can combine both theoretical and empirical context in the current book.","created_at":"2021-05-22T16:11:21.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-05-22T16:11:21.000-05:00"},{"id":4982,"first_name":"Scott","last_name":"Bushway","position":"Adjunct Professor of Criminal Justice","institution_name":"Massachusetts Bay Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This text explains how a criminal case proceeds through the criminal justice system very effectively.  Each of the three components of the criminal justice system - law enforcement, courts, and corrections - is fully covered. It explains the importance of data collection to measure crime, which is essential to effective resource deployment.  \r\nThe court system is explained in fairly simple terms for a rather complex subject.  Jurisdiction, court structure, appeal process, and court staff are all described in detail.  \r\nThe chapters covering the court begin with a brief history of the court system, including the history and differences between prisons and jails, including the different types of each.  Restorative justice is highlighted as well as alternatives to incarceration such as diversion, and community corrections.\r\nAs a final topic, the components of juvenile justice are well defined, which include rehabilitation and the juvenile justice and delinquency prevention act of 1974.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Alison Burke, Ph.D. is co-author with five other subject matter experts who have provided research-based analysis of each subject.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This textbook is relevant to today's criminal justice system and addresses current issues and challenges with each component of the criminal justice system.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The textbook is written in such a way as to address each subject with clear and concise language.  Each chapter is formatted so that each topic is easily located and easily explained.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"There do not appear to be any contradictions of material.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This book is easy to navigate as each chapter is properly titled with each sub-section formatted clearly.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The text begins with an overview of the criminal justice system.  Then, methodically addresses crime, criminal justice policy, and policing before moving into the second component of the criminal justice system, courts.  The final sections address the third component of the criminal justice system, which is corrections.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"There is nothing in the textbook to distract or confuse the reader.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I found no grammatical errors in this book.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"This textbook address the criminal justice system, which is factual, therefore not culturally insensitive or offense.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"N/A","created_at":"2021-05-25T15:33:33.000-05:00","updated_at":"2021-05-25T15:33:33.000-05:00"},{"id":33638,"first_name":"Wendi","last_name":"Babst","position":"Instructor","institution_name":"Clackamas Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text is an excellent introduction to a wide range of topics.  The structure of the text walks the reader through the topics and explains the concepts in simple terms which are appropriate for students who are beginning a criminal justice course of study or those who are exploring the discipline.  The index and glossary are adequate for navigating the information in each section.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"I found the information to be accurate and unbiased.  As an Oregon-based educator, I may not have noted information that was not applicable to another jurisdiction as was noted by other reviewers.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"I appreciate that the information is succinct and covers the basics of each topic leaving room for the adopter to supplement with their own online or other content.  There are several links to some good resources that are not controlled by the author, and I have some concern they may become inactive or direct students to the wrong information in the future.  I know this can be a frustration for students.  As an instructor using an OER textbook, I would anticipate spending time proofing these links each time I use the textbook and providing alternatives as needed.  I would expect most instructors are constantly looking for current content to keep up to date with legal changes and to keep students engaged, so using this text as a starting point for each topic is a great way to compliment other more current and easily updated resources, such as internet content.  \r\n\r\nThe format of the text should allow for updates to be easily implemented.  I recognize it is a huge undertaking to maintain updates, but the basic framework is solid, and this would greatly expand the shelf-life of the textbook.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"I found the textbook to be well-written and easy to understand.  There are simple definitions for most technical terms, and these are also referenced in the glossary.  The textbook is written in a conversational style that I believe students will find appealing.  I know some reviewers commented about the informal style taking away from the credibility of the text, but in a time when textbook publishers are creating comic book format materials, there is clearly an expressed desire for more informal reference material.  This textbook strikes a good balance between authority and approachability I believe my students will appreciate.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Overall, the material is consistent throughout the text, but it is clear there are different authors for each section.  There are subtle differences in the style of each author, but this allows for students to understand they are getting some diversity of input and it also reflects the author for each topic has specific expertise in that area which lends to the credibility of the information.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Each section is very short and easy to follow.  The modules were organized well and flowed nicely from topic to topic.  Each chapter was labeled, and the sub-categories broke down the material well making it easy to locate information quickly.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The topics were presented in a clear and logical fashion.  The learning objectives were clearly stated and met in the content of each section.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The layout of the text is simple with limited graphics and color use.  This works well for use with accessibility technology.  There were some graphics that appeared distorted but were still readable.  I did note at least one graph that didn’t contain any date range information which was bit confusing, but overall, the graphics worked well and were well labeled.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"I noted a few grammatical errors in the text sections and the glossary, but none that greatly impacted the content.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"The text provides a good balance of examples that reflect the diversity of the community.  It was especially refreshing to have the perspective of a female law enforcement officer in the policing section.  There was nothing culturally insensitive or offensive in the text.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"This is an excellent basic text for use in course providing an overview of the U.S. criminal justice system, but sections also provide an excellent basic framework for other more in-depth courses focusing on a particular topic or topics.  My hope is to adopt sections of this textbook for focused courses on corrections and juvenile justice which will necessitate supplementing other references for most topics, but this is one of the best examples of an OER criminal justice text I have found.  I am very appreciative of the work the professors at SOU put into this project.","created_at":"2022-01-02T21:18:55.000-06:00","updated_at":"2022-01-02T21:18:55.000-06:00"},{"id":33679,"first_name":"Bahiyyah","last_name":"Muhammad","position":"Associate Professor of Criminology","institution_name":"Howard University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book cover an array of different topics connected to the American criminal legal enterprise. Readers can find all traditional topics that one would cover in an entry level criminal Justice course. For example, Introduction to Criminal Justice or Principles of Criminal Justice. Students who use this text will be introduced to all the classical and traditional works needed to comprehensively understand the legal system.","accuracy_rating":4,"accuracy_review":"The content for this text is presented in an unbiased manner. Each of the chapters are written in prose that are easy to comprehend for dual-enrollment high school students and early year college students.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"This book has relevance for now and can be used for the future. The historical components discussed about the criminal system have relevance for the contemporary and will still be relevant as the system progresses forward. The topics in each chapter serve to frame and contextualize the major themes of the system. Ultimately, these (police, courts and corrections) can be taught during any timeframe.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The text is very clear. It is written using short sentences, examples and without subject matter expert jargon. It is written in a format that many will be able to understand without confusion. Each chapter is broken into sub-sections. This makes the content easy to digest. It also gives readers an opportunity to gain full clarity before moving into a new topic. The chapter exercises are clear and connect to real experiences. This helps readers to triangulate course information with real life. This is also helpful because it allows the instructor/course facilitator to  bring in additional resources to help explain concepts further.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Each chapter follows the same layout. This helps young readers and growing scholars know exactly what to expect in each section through the text.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The textbook modularity is GREAT! The information is broken in smaller topical sections that contribute to the larger argument. This is helpful for both the reader and instructor. This modularity helped me to break the syllabus into weekly content that was consist throughout the semester. With this format student success in the course was increased. Because they knew how much they needed to read each week in order to complete each section. The book format allows consistency in contact and number of reading pages.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The organization of the book flows logically.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"Images and chart are available throughout the text. This is helpful for visual readers.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"There were no grammatical errors that students brought up. I also did not pick up on any of these kinds of errors.","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"This text provides culturally relevant content. Students in evaluating the course requested to have more of such content. Specifically, to highlight the critical ways in which race intersects with the criminal legal system.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I have used this book for 3 semesters. It has worked well in my large and small classes. I have one section of Principles of criminal Justice with 50 students. I have another with 300 students. This book is a good choice for teaching introductory criminal legal/criminology courses.","created_at":"2022-01-31T21:33:33.000-06:00","updated_at":"2022-01-31T21:33:33.000-06:00"},{"id":34102,"first_name":"Frank","last_name":"D'Agostino","position":"Professor","institution_name":"North Shore Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"This textbook covers all the major content areas required for an Intro to CJ class.  Each content area is covered in a clear and comprehensive fashion.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"The textbook cites legal sources which indicate that the text has been thoroughly researched and therefore is accurate.","relevance_rating":3,"relevance_review":"The textbook cites resources from within the last 10 years.  My only comment here is that its unclear when the text was last revised, and in the Criminal Justice field the law/practice/procedures can change quite rapidly.  This OER source may need to be updated.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"Despite drawing on numerous authors, the textbook does flow and the prose is both lucid and accounts for any jargon used in the criminal justice field.  e.g. specific terms like a \"wobbler\" (a criminal act in CA that could be charged as a misdemeanor or a felony) are clearly explained.  I would give this category a 4.5 if allowed to.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"Consistency can be an issue when relying on numerous authors (see comment to Clarity above) but this text does a good job blending the writing styles as well as the terminology/framework.  Not an easy task when doing an overview of an entity as vast as the American criminal justice system. Once again, I would give this category a 4.5 if allowed to.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Perhaps the greatest strength/asset of this text is the ease within which the reader can move between different topics and subtopics.  This makes initial reading easier, but also makes reviewing text passages (say while preparing an assignment or studying for a quiz/test) also quite facile.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"This text employs the classic organization for an Intro to CJ textbook.  In short, it works, and if it isn't broke then don't fix it!","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"I didn't find many interface issues, most links work well, and moving back into the text was efficient, in that it brought you back to the place in the text you previously were.  However, I did find that in some cases additional software was required.  For example, in 7.3 the structure courts section, the 360° virtual campus tour of The U.S. Supreme Court requires the Adobe Flash Player.  Perhaps this requirement is disclosed to the user up front, but if it isn't, I suggest that the authors do so.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"There were no grammatical errors that I found.  Of course, I am not an English teacher!","cultural_rating":3,"cultural_review":"While I don't think the text is offensive, it does miss the opportunity to examine cultural, as well as racial, gender and ethnic, issues in a more detailed and up to date manner.  For example, in 5.9 Strain Theories, 5.10 Learning Theories, 5.11 Control Theories of crime, the author relies on the seminal works to explain the topics, but misses on the opportunity to use more recent research.  Although, in 5.12 other criminological theories, the author does briefly mention critical thoeries.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This is a solid Intro to CJ book.  While I didn't see an associated test/question bank, I assume there is one available in the Library (perhaps?)  I would suggest including some more recent cases/examples from media sources to make the text more relevant to the reader.  Otherwise, great job.","created_at":"2022-11-03T12:03:37.000-05:00","updated_at":"2022-11-03T12:03:37.000-05:00"},{"id":34230,"first_name":"Jessica","last_name":"Peterson","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"Southern Oregon University","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"This book is a nice and easy-to-understand introduction to the criminal justice system. As a policing scholar, I wanted to see more of a historical and analytical overview of policing. Some chapters provided more detail/in-depth discussion than others.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"More than one perspective is provided in this book.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The field of criminal justice is constantly changing; at the time it was written, the stats/charts were recent. This text is still relevant and - as a new volume is soon to come out - will be a nice intro for students throughout the 2020s.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The book is written in a relatable tone - rather than strictly academic prose - that students appreciate.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"The chapters are written by different individuals, so there are differences in tone throughout the book. However, there is consistency within chapters and components of the CJ system (e.g., cops, courts, corrections).","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"I was able to assign sections of the reading according to what I planned to cover, even if that meant dividing up chapters.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"Again, it is relateable for undergraduate students.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"This book reads pretty easily.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"There are some noticeable grammatical issues, but the book is meant to provide undergrad students with an introduction to the system that is less academic in nature and more relatable. From that perspective, it does a nice job of remaining conversational.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"Overall, the text - particularly certain chapters - tends to address diversity, inclusion, and the lack of attention to diverse perspectives throughout the study of criminology and the criminal justice system.","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"I survey my students on course materials and they appreciated the local examples and relatable content in the book. This book provides a brief overview of the US criminal justice system and allows a lot of room for faculty to lecture/cover what they would like to. Assigning readings does not feel overwhelming from a faculty perspective and allows you to provide other outside materials without overburdening students.","created_at":"2022-12-04T21:06:35.000-06:00","updated_at":"2022-12-04T21:06:35.000-06:00"},{"id":34321,"first_name":"Summer","last_name":"Diamond","position":"Lecturer II","institution_name":"University of Texas Rio Grande Valley","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"I was impressed with the wide range of areas this text covers. It begins with the history and makes its way through to current issues, which I appreciate. The Learning Objectives and Critical Thinking questions at the beginning of each section are beneficial for students to know the \"why's\" of what they are learning and how to apply. I however, wish that there were more definitions in each section as this is an Introduction course and most students have not heard of a lot of these important terms being discussed.","accuracy_rating":3,"accuracy_review":"The content in the text is shown to be unbiased as it does come from different view points and authors. However, I found there to be some issues with accuracy of delivery of certain terms/subjects. Such as the dark figure or hidden figures of crime, the funnel effect and the delivery of jails and prisons. These particular points are crucial to teaching this topic and it was lacking in full details of each of these areas and only briefly touched the importance of them. \r\nIntro students and even higher levels need to know that jails and prisons are not interchangeable terms and although it did give a good list of the differences there could have been even more discussed to differentiate the two.","relevance_rating":5,"relevance_review":"The topics covered in this text range from the history of the CJ System to the current times which will be easy to update with any current relative events dealing with these issues and topics as time progresses. The stats listed provided a historical context but also the current stats such as those listed in the probation section provide context to what is being discussed and can be kept up to date easily.","clarity_rating":4,"clarity_review":"The text uses personal perspectives and stories from the authors and not strictly from an academic setting that helps student relate more to the subjects and understand the application of certain situations. This is helpful in not only a lecture setting but in online courses as well.","consistency_rating":4,"consistency_review":"The text has a good flow between the chapters and subheadings. Since it is from more than one author some areas were less informative than others and could have had more content added.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"This text will be easy to pick and choose certain topics to the relative sections being covered in a specific module of my course and will be a good addition to assigned readings.","organization_rating":4,"organization_review":"The topics chosen are clear and in a logical order that is easy to read and assign to students.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"The text is an easy read especially for undergraduate students.","grammatical_rating":4,"grammatical_review":"There were a few grammatical errors as the stories provided for better understanding were from personal perspective the tone and language used was appropriate for them.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"The text seemed to provide more current issues/stories in the media and therefore more sensitive to certain hot topics that we are dealing with in our current society.","overall_rating":8,"overall_review":"This will be a great up to date supplement to my current required textbook. It will be easy to assign students to read additional material without them feeling overwhelmed as the sections are shorter than most textbooks which students these days will appreciate.","created_at":"2022-12-21T13:50:29.000-06:00","updated_at":"2022-12-21T13:50:29.000-06:00"},{"id":34759,"first_name":"Meg","last_name":"Chrusciel","position":"Assistant Professor","institution_name":"University of Wisconsin - Superior","comprehensiveness_rating":4,"comprehensiveness_review":"The textbook does an excellent job covering the wide array of topics relevant for an introductory level criminal justice class. Rather than digging in too deeply, this book really focuses on skimming the surface of each topic (as a strong introductory book should). What is especially noteworthy is the organization both overall and within chapters. There is a lot of information included and it can get confusing quickly without proper structure and organization. This book has both. Further, the use of text boxes including example and discussion questions are so helpful for the reader and could be useful for classroom discussions. I would like to see more inclusion and discussion of drugs embedded throughout, if not made into its own chapter. Drug policy has shaped so much of the criminal justice system, it seems to warrant a deeper discussion than is made here. It is worth noting, however, that the chapter dedicated to policy is one of the strengths of this textbook. The glossary is excellent, but an index page would be helpful as well.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"There were no glaring inaccuracies in this book. It addresses some controversial subjects clearly and objectively.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"Because this book takes such an objective stance, it sometimes brushes over, if not omits entirely, some key concepts related to crime (e.g., drug use, gender, race). This hurts its ability to remain timely, though its discussion of underlying systems will remain relevant. Because the book includes example boxes and news boxes, these will likely need updating as time goes on, but even when older, the examples still make for good discussions or thought pieces.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"The clarity of this textbook is one of its greatest strengths. It avoids jargon without explaining and contextualizing the language. The definitions provided are written in simple terms and straightforward. The authors use terminology commonly used by practitioners and researchers and does so in a way that an undergraduate student can understand. It is easy to follow and clearly written.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"There are difference in tone and writing style between chapters written by different authors, though they are subtle and likely will go unnoticed by most undergraduate readers. The authors did adopt similar language and word choice throughout which helps the book read more cohesively, while still capturing different perspectives.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"The modular approach of this textbook is outstanding. The book is broken into sections which each include a number of chapters. Within each chapter there are subsections which further help structure the content in a way that is easy to follow and interpret. An added benefit is that the chapters feel a bit shorter (despite containing the same content and page length as a traditionally written chapter). This helps make the sections feel more manageable and likely less intimidating or overwhelming for students.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"This textbook follows the traditional four section (overview, policing, courts, and corrections) structure of most introductory books do in this field. As noted above, its modularity makes this a very well organized book that is easy to follow and makes sense for someone brand new to learning in this field.","interface_rating":4,"interface_review":"The interface is excellent, however it is really unfortunate that there is no index that allows you to jump around more easily. It is a long scroll in its PDF format. The use of images, tables, charts, and other graphics is immensely useful and really strengthens this book.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"I did not notice any grammatical errors, at least any that impeded my reading.","cultural_rating":4,"cultural_review":"I did not find any of this textbook to be culturally insensitive or offensive. However, it could make more effort at being inclusive and representing a more diverse breadth of experiences. In trying to avoid insensitivity, it almost felt afraid to talk about some of the more problematic realities of our CJ system (such as the racial disparity in mass incarceration).","overall_rating":9,"overall_review":"This is a great alternative to the very expensive introductory books in our field. Just as with all textbooks, its needs some adjustments and contextualization by the course instructor to really be appropriate in a respective classroom, but it certainly offers a great tool for those teaching introduction to criminal justice courses.","created_at":"2023-11-27T17:16:18.000-06:00","updated_at":"2023-11-27T17:16:18.000-06:00"},{"id":35074,"first_name":"Darren","last_name":"Stocker","position":"Professor","institution_name":"Cape Cod Community College","comprehensiveness_rating":5,"comprehensiveness_review":"The text covers a wide range of topics relative to the CRJS. It was nice to see the TOC cover the three pillars of criminal justice and further delineate police, courts, and corrections in a more detailed and comprehensive presentation.  The glossary includes both historic and contemporary terminology found throughout the CRJS lexicon.","accuracy_rating":5,"accuracy_review":"Each of the topics provides an accurate depiction of criminal justice and is very inclusive of individuals, groups, communities, and agencies.  Many of the examples provided align well with contemporary issues.","relevance_rating":4,"relevance_review":"The text does a good job covering contemporary issues while including relevant historical events and applicable case law.  There is a need to be inclusive of Treatment Courts, such as drug courts, mental health courts, and veterans courts.  This should also include some mention of the drug court model that is currently employed throughout the country.  The illustration of probation and parole was nicely done.  The increased use of biometrics for identification should also be included.","clarity_rating":5,"clarity_review":"Overall, this is an easy read and provides enough information to satisfy the student at the introductory level.  The text does a great job creating a voice that portrays each of the three major topics, police, courts, and corrections.","consistency_rating":5,"consistency_review":"Terminology was well defined and explained. There were good examples that supported this.","modularity_rating":5,"modularity_review":"Each chapter is broken down into very readable sections, making the text comprehensive overall. Any of the sections would be seen as providing a solid foundation for a first-year student, or those interested in knowing more about criminal justice.","organization_rating":5,"organization_review":"The organization of the text is very consistent with other introductory textbooks currently used at the college level. The information is clear and properly illustrated.","interface_rating":5,"interface_review":"There were no noted concerns with the means in which this is designed and presented.  From an electronic presentation, it was very easy to navigate and find topics of direct interest.","grammatical_rating":5,"grammatical_review":"There were no issues that I was aware of, but I do think it should be formatted in APA.  The use of \"Understand\" in the learning objectives is not consistent with the action verbs found in Bloom's Taxonomy.","cultural_rating":5,"cultural_review":"I found nothing in the text to be offensive.","overall_rating":10,"overall_review":"I would like to have seen the text formatted in APA. Some of the Critical Thinking Questions are not actually questions.","created_at":"2024-05-27T10:02:00.000-05:00","updated_at":"2024-05-27T10:02:00.000-05:00"}],"url":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/textbooks/introduction-to-the-american-criminal-justice-system","updated_at":"2025-12-15T02:24:23.000-06:00"}],"links":{"self":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/criminal-law.json?page=1","total_pages":3,"total_count":23,"next":"https://staging.open.umn.edu/opentextbooks/subjects/criminal-law.json?page=2"}}