Bodleian Law Library
Welcome To The Law Library
e-mail: law.library@bodley.ox.ac.uk
www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/law/
welcome to the law library
Visiting the Library
Opening Hours
Term (weeks 1-8)
Monday to Friday
Saturday (weeks 0-8)
Sunday (weeks 0-8)
Vacation
Monday to Friday
Saturday
except Aug & Sept
Sunday
9.00am to 10.00pm
10.00am to 6.00pm
11.00am to 6.00pm
9.00am to 7.00pm
10.00am to 4.00pm
10.00am to 1.00pm
Closed
Admission
The Bodleian Law Library is part of the Oxford University Library Service.
Readers require a valid University or Library card and must bring it with them
every time they come to the library. Visitors are asked to register at the Enquiry
Desk. Day passes are available (a maximum of 2 per year).
The Collection
Arrangement
The collection is arranged by jurisdiction: statutes, law reports, periodicals and
textbooks are shelved, in that order, within each jurisdiction. Special subjects
have their own sections. As well as holding the major law collection for Oxford
University, the Law Library also houses the European Documentation Centre.
See the floor plan on pages 5 to 6.
Course books in heavy demand are kept at the Reserve Desk and may be
borrowed for use within the library.
Newly received journals are displayed to the right of the library entrance, and the
display is changed weekly. New books are listed on the Law Library website
each week.
Catalogues
Both SOLO , http://solo.ouls.ox.ac.uk , a search and discovery tool, and OLIS,
http://www.lib.ox.ac.uk/olis/ , the online catalogue, can be searched to find
items held in the Bodleian Law Library and most other academic institutions in
Oxford. User guides are available.
There is an ‘Abbreviations’ card catalogue located in drawers of the old card
catalogue, labelled in red. This is housed along the wall to the right of the library
entrance.
Using the books
The BLL is a reference library only - books may not be borrowed and taken out of
the library; books in demand, such as those on reading lists, may be borrowed
for use within the library from the Reserve Desk.
Please remember to fill in book slips when you remove a book from the shelves,
with your seat number and the date. It would be appreciated if you would place
books onto a trolley when you have finished with them.
The Social Sciences library – criminology and socio-legal books
This library is located in the Social Science building next to the St Cross Building,
and holds the teaching level criminology and socio-legal material.
Stack requests & inter library loans
Most law library material is on the open shelves; closed stack material will be
fetched on request. You may request material from the Bodleian stack collection
to the Law Library by using the Automated Stack Request System on OLIS
(‘Stack request’).
The library will also arrange interlibrary loans from other institutions.
Reference and Research
Library staff
The library staff have extensive experience in legal research and a good
knowledge of the collection. Please feel free to ask any staff member for
assistance on any legal research or library related matters.
Legal research classes, induction & guides
The library holds a range of research classes freely available to all Oxford
students. Details are posted on the web site, and on the notice board outside the
main entrance to the library. You can sign up for these classes on the website,
http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/law/
Extensive induction for starting undergraduate and graduate students is provided
at the commencement of each academic year.
There are numerous guides to various parts of the collection; these are available
from pamphlet boxes in the library, separated into Jurisdictional and Subject
sections, and also online at the law library website.
Legal databases and information services
The library provides a wide range of legal databases as well as links to free law
related web sites. There is also extensive access to other e-resources such as
non-legal databases, catalogues and information services via the OULS network,
called Oxlip+. A full list of the databases is available from the law library home
page at www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/law . Please ask at the Enquiry Desk for further
details and help with searching.
Reference queries
Reference librarians are available to assist you with research related queries;
please make an appointment or ask for them at the Enquiry desk.
Using The Library
Seats
Please use the seating in the middle of the Reading Room unless you are a
research student who has been allocated a specific seat or assigned to a block of
seats around the perimeter of the room. Seating is also available on the Lower
Floor near the European materials, and in the Gallery, near the international law
materials. The Graduate Reading Room is located on the Lower Floor.
Seminar and discussion room
The Baker & McKenzie Seminar and Discussion Room on the main reading room
floor of the Library is used by the Law Faculty for time tabled seminars.
When not in use for seminars it is available to all readers for discussion or quiet
study. Books may be taken into the Room.
Computers and laptops
There are catalogue terminals located throughout the library. General purpose
access to databases, the internet and applications such as Word is available on
computers in the Gallery Computer Room. There are a further 26 workstations in
the Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer IT Room for use by Law Faculty students
and staff. All workstations provide access to the catalogue, OLIS, general
applications such as Word, and the databases provided by Oxford University
Library Services.
You may use lap-top computers in the Reading Room and in the European
seating area so long as they do not disturb other readers. Wireless access is
provided. Please see the leaflet Essential IT information. We recommend that
you secure your lap-top.
Facilities
Photocopying, printing & scanning
There are four self-service photocopiers, two printers and a microform reader
printer. In addition to photocopying, it is possible to scan documents and email
the resulting pdf version to your own email. See the instructions in the
Photocopying Room.
The Photocopying Room is on the Main Floor. For full details see the leaflet Self
Service Photocopying.
The printers are located near the library entrance, and outside the Freshfields IT
room on the Lower Floor. There are copying restrictions. Observation of
copyright law is your responsibility. Copyright notices are displayed by each
machine; please read them. You may not photocopy books from locked cases
(including theses), or any old or fragile volumes, or any loose-leaf works.
If you require copies from any of these categories, please consult Library staff,
who may, if necessary, arrange a digital copy, or copy them for you.
OULS allows readers to use personal scanners and digital cameras. All
equipment, with the exception of flat bed scanners may be used. The use of flash
photography is forbidden at all times.
Facilities for readers with disabilities
Various facilities are in place or can be made available. Please telephone, email
or ask at the Library Enquiry Desk for more information.
Lockers
Lockers are available in the central area of the St Cross building. Please see the
porters for details.
Toilets
There are no toilets for general use within the library itself. Toilets are located
near the lecture theatres in the central area of the building, at the bottom of the
stairs to the right of the Library Exit. A toilet for disabled readers is available on
the Lower Floor, off the Graduate Reading Room.
A Couple of Rules
Food and drink
Eating and drinking (with the exception of plain water in bottles with a secure
screw top) is not allowed in the library, as this can damage the books. There are
self-service food and drink vending machines in the Student Common Room
across the terrace in front of the Library. There is also a drinking water dispenser
at the entrance to the Student Common Room.
Mobile telephones
Please switch off mobile phones before you enter the Library. A public telephone
and a university telephone are available in the central area of the St Cross
Building.
Some Facts and Figures
The Bodleian Law Library was opened on 17 October 1964 as a dependent
library of the Bodleian Library. It is part of the Oxford University Library Service
(OULS). The architects of the St Cross Building were Sir Leslie Martin, and Sir
Colin St John; the Law Library occupies 5215 sq. metres of the building,
alongside the Law faculty, English faculty and library. The library holds c.450,000
volumes, and has seating for over 400 readers.
BLL Contact Details
The Law Librarian is Ruth Bird
ruth.bird@bodley.ox.ac.uk
ext. 71451
St Cross Building,
Manor Road,
Oxford OX1 3UR
Tel: 01865 271462
Fax: 01865 271475
Web: http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/law/
Blog: http://lawbod.wordpress.com/
Email: General
law.library@bodley.ox.ac.uk
E DC
edc@bodley.ox.ac.uk
This leaflet is also available online in alternative formats
(http://www.ouls.ox.ac.uk/guides ). Please contact aracu@ouls.ox.ac.uk for
requests for Braille and audio.
07/09/6891