library tour for university of london llm students

Library Tour for University of London LLM students

Institute of Advanced Legal Studies 2014

Introduction

Welcome to the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Global Law Library

This tour by PowerPoint aims to give a brief introduction to Library services for new University of London LLM students.

It follows coverage of a normal 20 minute tour around the Library given by Library staff at the beginning of each academic year

Scope of collection

IALS is one of the largest single subject law collections in Europe, with over 300,000 books and 3,000 serial titles.

Particular strengths are the laws of the UK, EU, USA, Canada and the individual countries of Europe, the Commonwealth and Latin America. We also have very good collections of comparative law, private and public international law, and jurisprudence.

Main users of the library (1)

Effectively the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies is the national law library and is used by law research students and law academics based at universities within the UK and around the world.

We are also the postgraduate law institute of the University of London and are used by postgraduate students from the various University of London colleges – Undergraduates are NOT admitted!

Main users of the Library (2)

Practising lawyers can also use the Library on payment of a fee.

Undergraduate students and students doing their professional qualifications are not admitted to the Library, to save the collection for higher level scholarly research.

Opening hours

Opening hours are 9am - 11pm Monday- Friday and 10am - 8.30pm on Saturday and 12.30pm – 6.30pm on Sundays.

These hours are reduced slightly over the Summer vacation.

The Library is closed for a few days over Christmas and New Year and at Easter.

Entrance and exit

The Library entrance and exit are on the 4th floor of the main building, which is the top floor of the library.

You will always need your Library card to come in to the Library. You simply need to swipe it under the barcode reader next to the turnstile.

There is a £1 charge if you forget you card and a £5 charge for a replacement if you lose your card

The dos and don’ts

You are welcome to bring bags and coats into the Library (at your own risk) but you can hire a locker for a small charge for the year if you wish. Simply ask at the ground floor reception desk. We ask that you do not reserve desks for long periods of time.

Mobile phones must be switched off before coming into the Library.

Food and drink is not allowed in the Library, apart from a small bottle of plain water.

Notice boards

There is an notice board for LLM students next to the main lifts on the 4th floor. This contains general LLM information, any amendments (e.g. room changes and class cancellations) and any Library notices relevant to LLM students.

There is also a more general Library notice board just inside the turnstile on the left-hand side.

Subject guides – printed and online

There are around 25 printed subject guides aimed mainly at helping new LLM students. Key areas covered include EU law, International Economic Law, Commercial Law etc. These guides detail our major holdings in these areas (e.g. key texts, main journals and websites).

These guides are available in print from the library lobby, and also online.

Online jurisdiction guides

There are also about 30 guides to different jurisdictions covered at IALS Library (e.g. the United Nations, USA Germany, Australia etc.).

These guides cover the legislative and judicial background of the jurisdiction, primary and secondary sources and finding aids.

They are available from our website.

Other Library guides (print and online)

There are a number of printed Library guides available in the library including: Finding your way round the Library Finding journal articles Finding cases and legislation as well as guides on our electronic information

services, and on connecting your computer laptops and using email.

There are also a number of online library guides on our website to finding different types of legal information

Issue & enquiry desk

The Issue & Enquiry Desk is located on the 4th floor in the library concourse area. It is staffed by two librarians throughout the library’s core opening hours. All short loan materials need to be checked out from and returned to this point.

This desk is the only enquiry point in the Library.

Do ask at the desk if you are having difficulties finding the materials you need.

Self issue/return machine

Out of core staffing hours, when the desk is closed, it is still possible to issue and return items using the ‘Self-Issue’ machine, which is located on the 4th floor library concourse.

Instructions for using this machine are clearly displayed next to it.

LLM material

We aim to make available all of the law texts which appear on LLM reading lists. Some of the interdisciplinary titles may be available at the relevant college Library.

If you are unable to find a particular title in the Library do fill out a recommendation form (available on the 4th floor) or simply let us know at the Issue & Enquiry Desk.

Short loan & offprint collection (1)

The Short Loan Collection is held behind the Issue & Enquiry Desk. It contains the most heavily used core textbooks on LLM reading lists and a few journal and law report titles.

You will need your library card to borrow items.

Short loan & offprint collection (2)

The Offprint Collection is also held at the Issue & Enquiry Desk. This is a collection of copies of journal articles and law reports which have been deposited by lecturers for use by students on particular LLM courses. The offprints are arranged in number order.

You can search for offprints in the catalogue by keyword or by course name. You simply need to ask for offprints by their “X number” at the desk.

Borrowing from the Short loan & offprint collection

You can borrow two textbooks from the Short loan collection, up to five journal volumes and five offprints at one time.

All material from the Short Loan and Offprint Collections is issued for three hours at a time. After 4.45pm (2.15pm Sat) the textbooks can be borrowed overnight until 10am (11am Sat). Items borrowed on Saturday will not need to be returned until Monday.

Borrowing from the main collection

You can borrow two books from the Main Collection for one day at a time. Books are due back by 7.45pm (5.15pm Sat) the following day, or Monday if borrowed on Saturday.

These books can be renewed up to three times, reservations permitting, either at the enquiry desk, or offsite by phone or via the Library catalogue.

Reference material

Being a national research library, much of our collection is reference only.

Material which is for reference use in the Library only includes: journals law reports series of legislation looseleafs Items with the classmark RF

Library catalogue (1)

This is quite likely to be the first place you look to see whether the Library holds the material you need.

There are several dedicated catalogue terminals in the Library but it is also possible to access our catalogue from any PC with internet access. It is available on our website.


The catalogue contains all book and journal titles.

The search options include Author, Title, Keyword, Subject heading etc.

It is often worth trying more than one type of search if your first one is unsuccessful. For instance try a keyword search if an exact title search was unsuccessful.

If you are still having trouble searching then ask at the enquiry desk for further assistance.


When you have found the title you are looking for the catalogue entry will show you a classmark such as SG75 HIG. You can use our floor directories or the Finding your way round the Library guide to find out which floor that classmark is on.

Please note that the catalogue includes the holdings of several other institutes so you may need to check that the location is IALS. It should be possible to restrict the catalogue to search for material held at IALS only.


You may come across the following classmark entries on the catalogue:

FOL - This stands for folio and means the item is a larger volume shelved across the corridor from the main collection on the relevant floor. These sections are marked on the maps in the Finding your way in the library leaflets.

Depository/RES - this means the item is held in our closed basement. You simply need to request the item by filling out a blue form at the desk. Material can usually be collected within 15 minutes.

Other Library catalogues

There are links from our Library catalogue front page (in the Other Resources menu) to union catalogues which may be useful if you wish to see whether a title which we do not have is held elsewhere.

These include the Union List of Serials and InforM25 covering academic libraries in the London area and the national COPAC.

Speak to your college library about how to access this material.

List of serials - printed

The list of serials is a useful quick reference tool. It is an alphabetical wall list of all of our current serial titles (including journals, law reports, legislation). These are available next to the Issue & Enquiry Desk, and on every floor opposite the lifts.

All of the same information is available in our catalogue but the list of serials can speed up your search. It gives you the relevant classmark and floor of the Library, without having to go to a computer.

List of serials - online

The list of serials is also available on our website via the electronic law library. The web list also has links to any available electronic version of a title which we hold in paper form, and also details of journals which are held only electronically.

Legal abbreviations

You need the full title of a journal or law report to search for it in the list of serials or in the library catalogue.

If you need to find out the full title of an abbreviated serial on your reading list

e.g. ‘All E R’

try the selected list of abbreviations at the front of the list of serials or the useful web tool: Cardiff index to legal abbreviations.

Electronic information services (1)

Most of the Library PCs are located on the 4th floor (on the concourse and in the Electronic Legal Research Unit). All PCs are open access with no passwords required. They work on a first come, first served basis.

All PCs have access to the same resources including internet access, access to all of our electronic resources and word processing.

In addition there is also a PC with dedicated special needs software.


The main gateway through to our electronic resources is the IALS Electronic Law Library. You will find an icon for this page on every PC desktop.

The IALS Electronic Law Library lists all of our electronic resources alphabetically with links to each one, information about the databases, information regarding offsite access, and in some cases guides and online tutorials.


Some electronic resources are available onsite only. These include the Lexis Library and Westlaw databases.

These databases should be available offsite to you via your college library (usually through an Athens password). Simply ask at your college library for details.


We do offer offsite access for UL LLM students to a number of electronic resources and e-journals, including:

HeinOnline database of US law journals Justis.com databases – including Celex, UK Statutes

and Weekly law reports Beck database of German materials

Further information is available on the “Services for University of london LLM students” section of the website.

Laptops

Laptop computers can be connected at points all around the Library with the exception of one designated quiet area on the 2nd floor.

It is possible to access all IALS web based resources via laptops.

Ethernet cables are available for loan from the Issue & Enquiry Desk, and wireless networking is in place throughout the building.

Refer to the Connecting your computer laptop guide for assistance.

Printing

There are networked printers on the library concourse, in the Electronic Legal Research Unit and on floor L2.

You need to add credit to your library card first (see photocopying section below).

Simply send your job to print from an IALS PC, identify yourself with your library card, go to any one of the printers with your library card and follow the instructions provided.

Photocopying (1)

Most of the Library photocopiers are located on the 4th floor. There is also one down on floor L2.

You can bring material up from other library floors to be photocopied but please return it to the reshelving shelves opposite the Library lift on the relevant floor when you have finished.

Photocopying (2)

You will need to add credit to your library card before making either photocopies or printing.

You can do this online, at the kiosk in the photocopy room or at the enquiry desk

Every £1 added gives 20 credits of printing, photocopying or scanning.

If you require a receipt, please ask at the Issue & Enquiry Desk prior to purchase.

And finally…

I hope you find the IALS Library services useful to you during your LLM course.

If you have any queries about Library resources and services do ask at the Issue & Enquiry Desk or contact us on [email protected].

Library map – 4th floor

Library map – 3rd floor

Library map – 2nd floor

Library map – Lower 2nd floor

library tour for university of london llm students

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