Title Highlight: Encyclopedia of American Prisons and Encyclopedia of Prisons & Correctional Facilities

Encyclopedia of American Prisons - 1 volume
Illustrations, Chronology of American Prison History, Index

Encyclopedia of Prisons & Correctional Facilities - 2 volumes
Reader’s Guide containing a list of articles by topic
A list of topics covered by sidebars
Appendix: Institutions of the Federal Prison System, Bibliography (at the end of articles and at the end of the second volume), Index

Hewes Library has two reference encyclopedias on prisons and correctional facilities. The first encyclopedia is a one volume work giving short descriptions of various topics associated with the American prison system including accreditation, architecture, diet and food service, escapees and women in prison. It includes short biographies of noted prison founders and reformers as well as short histories of a few of the more infamous prisons like Alcatraz and Sing Sing. All of the articles are signed and there are short bibliographies after each article for those who’d like more information.

The second title is a two volume set that covers primarily the American prison system, but also has articles on a few other countries. The range of topics covered is greater than in the first book and the articles are a bit longer. The articles are also signed with short bibliographies for more in-depth research on a topic. The articles in this encyclopedia are not as neutral in tone as the ones in the first encyclopedia, although both are factual.

Interestingly enough, the topics covered are not the same in both books. For instance the military prison at Fort Leavenworth Kansas is covered by a solo entry in the first encyclopedia but does not get its own entry in the second; while the federal prison at Leavenworth Kanas is covered by an entry in the second book, but not the first. So if the topic you are interested in is not in the first book, try the second one and vice versa. The good thing is that both of these titles are shelved next to each other in the reference section, so it is easy to look through both of them at the same time.