Law

Definitions
Introduction
Selection criteria

• General scope
• Format
• Language
• Level

Significant subjects
Superseded material
Collection development policy review for Law
Appendix
Notes

Definitions

'Primary sources' means legislation, secondary legislation and law reports

'Secondary sources' means monographs and periodicals

'Research level' is defined as being one where independent research can be pursued with the resources provided

'Representative collection' means a collection which reflects the main developments and thinking in a particular area but which is not comprehensive

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Introduction

The aim of this document is to outline the Library's acquisition policy in law. Although by necessity this includes outlines of what is not collected as well as what is, this document is intended as a positive rather than as a negative statement of that policy.

This document does not cover all areas of potential relevance to the study of law (sociolegal studies, law and economics, regulation, etc). Elements of the collection development policies for Sociology, Economics, Government, Social Policy, International Relations and Official Publications will also be relevant.

The University of London's primary research collection in law is that of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies. The existence of this collection, and the Institute's special position in providing support for advanced teaching and research in law, has a major influence upon the scope of the Library's acquisitions policy in this area.

Particular strengths of other law collections in the University of London are noted as an appendix. It should be noted that there is no longer any formal cooperation in collection building between libraries of the University of London. As a result, these strengths cannot necessarily be relied upon to continue in the future.

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Selection criteria

General scope (1)

The Library aims to provide the primary and secondary sources necessary to support the undergraduate teaching of the School's Law Department, and courses in law taken by undergraduate and postgraduate students of other departments.

Primary responsibility for provision of materials to support LLM courses lies with the library of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies. However, the Library aims to provide reading list materials for LLM courses taught at the School. In addition, the Library's provision for undergraduate courses, outlined below, provides a general collection for these students.

The Library does not aim to provide a comprehensive research collection in law. However, it does aim to acquire material of research level on a selective basis in the areas of interest outlined in section 4. Primary responsibility for supporting legal research lies with the library of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies. LSE staff and postgraduate students enjoy full access to the Institute's library to which the School makes a significant financial contribution.

In supporting undergraduate education, and providing a general collection to support postgraduate taught courses, the Library will provide:

(i) all UK Public General Acts from 1831 to date in official or reprint form

(ii) all statutory instruments and other secondary legislation, in original and reprint form, relevant to the subjects taught

(iii) the treaties and legislation of the European Union in original or reprint form

(iv) all reported decisions of the superior courts of England and Wales relevant to the subjects taught, together with such decisions of other courts within or outside England and Wales, as are necessary to the understanding of those subjects

(v) all reported decisions of the European Court of Justice relevant to the subjects taught

(vi) UK parliamentary materials, to include Bills, parliamentary papers and reports of parliamentary proceedings, appropriate to the subjects taught (2)

(vii) Law Commission consultation papers and reports and such other UK official publications as are necessary to support teaching objectives

(viii) where teaching is provided in the law of any legal system other than England and Wales and the European Union, primary legal materials and official publications from that legal system, in official or reprint (including where appropriate, translated) form, sufficient to support the objectives of such teaching

(ix) such secondary works (including textbooks, monographs and periodicals) relating to the law of England and Wales, of the European Union and of other legal systems which are the subject of study as are necessary to support teaching objectives. Multiple copies of books identified as being essential on reading lists will be provided (as at 1996 the general target in this regard was one copy per ten students; this target may be altered in future to reflect changes in resources available)

(x) those tools, such as general law encyclopaedias, citators, periodical indexes, and current awareness services, which are necessary for the identification and updating of primary and secondary legal materials for the legal systems in which teaching is undertaken

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Format

The Library collects regardless of format i.e. print, microfilm, electronic, etc. the basic criteria for selection in this regard being necessity for teaching and suitability of the format for the purpose. Given the cost of holding the same material in different formats, duplication will be avoided whenever possible.

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Language

English language material is collected wherever possible. Sources in foreign languages are collected in the following order of preference: French, German, Spanish, Italian. Sources in non-European languages are not collected.

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Level

Works aimed primarily at the legal practitioner are not collected (however, major works of equal importance to the legal practioner and the academic lawyer, such as Chitty on contract, are collected). Student textbooks and books of cases and legal materials are collected only in so far as they are needed for teaching.

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Significant subjects

The following subjects are of major interest to the Law Department, or of general significance within the School. As well as providing materials in these areas to support teaching, the Library will collect primary and secondary sources in order to support background reading beyond the confines of the reading list but not to support detailed research. Due to the number of subjects in question, and the need to match aspirations to resources, such collecting will be selective.

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Superseded material

As a general rule, the Library aims to retain only current and pre-current editions of legal textbooks and monographs. However, for the subject areas outlined below, one copy of all superseded editions will be retained. These subjects are:

Other than for the subjects listed above, the Library does not aim to provide an historical collection of superseded editions as this role is already fulfilled by the library of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies.

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Collection development policy review for Law

This collection development policy will be reviewed on a regular basis in the light of the following: developments in teaching, the interests of the Law Department and other departments in the School, relationships with other libraries with whom collaborative arrangements exist and recognised national standards for law libraries. Such reviews will be conducted in cooperation with the Law Department.

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Appendix

Specialisms of some University of London law collections

Kings College Medical law and ethics
Queen Mary & Westfield Commercial law (particularly intellectual property and international taxation)
University College London Roman law. Soviet & East European law

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Notes

(1) This section draws on the statement of standards for university law libraries of the Society of Public Teachers and Law published in Legal studies in December 1995 and later in the Law librarian:

A library for the modern law school: statement of standards for university law library provision in England and Wales, Law librarian, vol 27 no 1 (March 1996), pp29-35

(2) This statement should be regarded as the minimum level of provision of UK parliamentary publications for law below which the Library will not fall. As at 1996 the Library actually collected all UK parliamentary publications.

Reviewed 02/05

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