Library Services Procedure Manual R C P Online Resources

STANFORD LAW LIBRARY

 

COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT POLICY

 

 

I.  General Policy

 

The Law Library’s primary responsibility is to support the teaching and research programs of the faculty and students in the Law School.  It also provides basic legal resources for all members of the Stanford community.

 

In general, the Law Library relies on other Stanford libraries to acquire law-related materials, in areas such as economics, computer science, government, history, medicine, political science, or sociology.  In each instance, the decision to purchase (and the decision to select a printed, electronic, or other format) is based on the greatest utility to the Law School.

 

The acquisitions policy of the Law Library is centered primarily upon legal jurisdictions, and varies in intensity from one jurisdiction to another.  The following divisions are used in setting the acquisitions policy:

 

        Common Law

        - United States

        - United Kingdom and Canada

        - Other common law jurisdictions

 

        Foreign Law

        - Western Europe

        - Eastern Europe

        - Latin America

        - Africa

        - Middle East

        - Asia

 

        International Law

        Roman Law

        Ancient Legal Systems

        Indigenous Law

        Religious Law

        Jurisprudence

        Criminology

 

        Archives

        Rare Books

II.  Coordination & Cooperation

 

The Law Library has cooperative arrangements with other libraries at Stanford, and with several law libraries in Northern California.  In general it is the Law Library’s policy not to duplicate materials in other Stanford libraries unless it is necessary either because of demand in the Law School, or because of access limitations elsewhere.  Agreements with other libraries include:

 

 

Government Documents Library (Stanford)

 

The Law Library is a selective federal and California state depository, and acquires all government documents needed (1) to satisfy the accreditation requirements of the American Bar Association and the Association of American Law Schools, and (2) the instructional and basic research needs of the Law School.  These resource are supplemented with access to online databases, and recourse to the holdings of Stanford’s Government Documents library.

 

 

Hoover Institution Library (Stanford)

 

The Law Library relies upon the Hoover Institution library to supplement its holdings for jurisdictions in Eastern Europe, Middle East, East Asia, and African countries.  The Law Library relies on Hoover’s depository collection of European Union publications, and on its collection of foreign gazettes.

 

 

University of California at Berkeley Law Library

 

The Stanford and Berkeley Law Libraries buy alternate editions of major treatises published in common law jurisdictions other than the United States.  The Law Library relies upon Berkeley for its extensive holdings in Canon Law and Roman Law.  The two libraries have an informal agreement for the reciprocal free loan of books and provision of photocopies.

 

 

Santa Clara University Law Library

University of California at Davis Law Library

 

The Law Library also has informal agreements with these two libraries for the reciprocal free loan of books and provision of photocopies.

 

 

 

III.  Selection Intensity

 

The selection intensity levels are:

 

        Level A      - Intensive

        Level B      - Advanced Research

        Level C      - Research

        Level D      - Study

        Level E      - Basic

        Level F      - Exclusion

 

 

A.  United States

 

        1.  Primary sources

 

a.  Constitutions, constitutional conventions, statutory material,

                     court decisions, attorneys general opinions: federal and state   Level A

 

b.  Administrative regulations compiled.

                        - California, New York, Federal                              Level A

                        - Other states                                                     Level F

 

                c.  Administrative Rulings

                        - California and Federal                                        Level A

                        - New York                                                         Level B

                        - Other states                                                     Level E

 

          2.  Secondary sources

 

a.  Periodicals indexed in Current Law Index or Index to Legal

                     Periodicals, and other periodicals having legal research value.   Level A

 

                b.  Bar association proceedings: ABA and state.              Level A

 

                c.  Treatises, monographs, pamphlets, reports, proceedings, etc.

                        - Major Law School interest                                   Level A

                        - Lesser Law School interest                                 Level B

                        - Periodic Law School interest                               Level C

 

 

 

 

B.  United Kingdom and Canada

 

        1.  Primary sources                                              Level B

 

        2.  Secondary sources

 

                a.  Periodicals                                             Level B

 

                b.  Other publications

                        - Major Law School interest                   Level B

                        - Lesser Law School interest                 Level C

                        - Periodic Law School interest                 Level D

 

 

C.  Other Common Law Jurisdictions

 

                1.  Primary sources                                      Level C

 

                2.  Other publications                                  Level D or E

                        English language only

 

 

D.  Foreign Law

 

        1.  Western Europe                             

                - France and Germany                                  Level C

                - Other countries                                        

                        English, French, German,

                        Italian, Spanish only                            Level D or E

        2.  Eastern Europe                                                      

                English language only                                  Level D or E

 

        3.  Latin America                                                 Level D or E

 

        4.  Africa

                - South Africa                                             Level C

                - Commonwealth countries                           Level D or E

                - Other countries

                        English language only                          Level E

 

        5.  Middle East

                        English language only                          Level D or E

 

        6.  Asia

                - Commonwealth countries                           Level D or E

                        English language only

                - China, Japan, Korea, Phillippines,

                  Singapore, Taiwan    

                        English language only                          Level D

                - Other countries                                        

                        English language only                          Level E

 

 

L International Law

 

Includes international law proper; international arbitration; international organizations; international trade and investment; international relations, international treaties.  The collection intensity depends on language

 

                - English (including US treaties)                    Level B

                - French, German, Spanish                            Level D

                - Non Roman alphabet                                 Level F

 

J.  Roman Law

 

        English language only                                          Level D

 

 

K.  Ancient Legal Systems

 

        Includes Babylonian, Celtic, ancient Greek, etc.

 

                - English language                                       Level C

                - Other languages                                       Level E

                - Non Roman alphabet                                 Level F

 

 

L.  Indigenous Law

 

        Includes indigenous law from Africa, Americas, Australia, Canada,

        in English language only.

 

                - United States                                           Level B

                - Canada                                                    Level C

                - Other countries                                         Level D or E

 

 

M.  Religious Law

 

        Includes Canon, Hindu, Islamic, Jewish, law.

                - English language only                                Level D or E

 

 

N.  Jurisprudence

 

                - English language                                       Level B

                - French, German, Spanish                            Level D

                - Other languages                                       Level E or F

 

O.  Criminology

 

                - Capital punishment                                   Level A

                - Other aspects                                          

                        - United States                                   Level B

                        - Other countries                                 Level D or E

                - English language only

 

 

P.  Archives

 

The Law Library collects archival materials relating to the Law School, including publications of the Law School faculty.

 

 

Q.  Rare Books

 

It is not the policy of the Library to purchase rare books, but appropriate books may be accepted as gifts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

11/10/2000