Law

Statement of programs and library needs

The legal collection at Virginia Tech concentrates on United States and Virginia statutory, regulatory and judicial law. Works dealing with international law, British law, and major documents concerning other countries are also purchased. The Department of Political Science has a legal studies option. The collection also supports the departments of Accounting, Economics, Management, Management Science, and Finance, Insurance and Business Law in the College of Business. In addition, many other academic and non-academic departments draw upon the law collection, especially as it pertains to their disciplines. For example, Virginia Tech offers courses in environmental, agricultural, boundary, and school law, legal aspects of special and higher education, poverty and law, and legal aspects of hotel, restaurant, and institutional management. The collection is augmented by computer files such as Westlaw, Lexis/Nexis Academic Universe, and other computer products made available by the Government Printing Office, and other computer products that become available.

I. Collection Areas

A. Area: Law

 

B. Classes and Levels

K               Law (General) 				Basic
KD              Law of England and Wales		Minimal
KE              Law of Canada 				Minimal
KF              Federal Law, Common and Collective
                  State Law   				Study
KF 1-8          Bibliography  				Basic
KF 16-49        Legislative Documents                 	Study
KF 50-90        Statutes and Administrative
                  Regulations 				Study
KF 101-153      Law reports & related materials       	Study
KF 154-178      Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, Form
                  Books, Periodicals and Yearbooks    	Study
KF 560-780      Property      				Study
KF 801-1241     Contracts     				Study
KF 1600-2940    Regulation of Industry, Trade 
                  Commerce. Occupational law        	Study
KF 3300-3750    Social Legislation                    	Study
KF 3941-3977    Public Safety 				Basic
KF 4501-5130    Constitutional Law                    	Study
KF 5500-5865    Public property. Public Restraint
                  on Private Property                	Study
KF 6200-6795    Public Finance				Study
KF 7201-7755    National Defense. Military Law        	Basic
KF 8700-9075    Courts, Procedure                     	Basic
KFV             Law of Virginia                       	Research

C. Chronology

Emphasis is on currently published works. Very few historical works are collected.

D. Geographic Guidelines

Legal materials are collected for the United States (national and regional), Virginia, Blacksburg and Montgomery County, international law, and minimally for other countries.

E. Languages

Only English language materials are collected.

F. Treatment

Basic source materials (bills, statutes, regulations, debates, hearings, committee or commission reports, court decisions, and treaties) form the basis of the collection. Law review journals and other periodicals and indexes for accessing them are an important part of the collection although only the more important law reviews are collected since there is no law program at Virginia Tech. Legal encyclopedias, directories, loose-leaf publications, and dictionaries are important reference sources. Court reporters for the Supreme Court, other federal courts, all United States regions and Virginia are collected.

Specialized legal codes (i.e., building, electrical, fire, etc.) are collected. Works on legal education and the profession of law are selectively acquired. Biographical works on political and judicial figures as well as government manuals and directories are acquired. Monographs on legal theory, ethics, and interpretation are selectively acquired.

Law of individual cities is collected only for local municipalities. Law of individual territories (or other states) are not collected. Dissertations are usually not purchased. Popular works are selectively puchased.

G. Formats

Primarily print for monographs and most journals, though electronic full-text is also of growing importance for journals. Bibliographic databases are available through the Internet.

Printed materials (books, periodicals, and loose-leaf services), microforms, and computer products are acquired.

H. Multiple copies

Multiple copies are purchased only for very heavily used items, or items needed for reserve. Some materials are maintained in multiple formats.

II. Acquisition Strategy

Most basic law materials are serial in nature and are acquired on a standing order or subscription basis. Many are received on a deposit basis from the federal or Virginia governments (see separate policies on federal and state and local documents in the appendix). Others are purchased. Monographs are acquired by faculty request or selection by the collection development librarians.

III. Collection Notes

The law collection is utilized by an interdisciplinary group of users from the campus community and by the legal profession and public in the area. Emphasis is on completeness of U.S. and Virginia legal documents and legal works that support the curriculum in all areas. The most important international organizations are covered, and other materials are purchased on a funds-available basis.

The law collection for Virginia is acquired as comprehensively as possible. Codes for Blacksburg and Montgomery County are also maintained. International law materials are acquired on a highly selective basis. The Official Records of the United Nations and its principal deliberative organs and the UN Treaty Series are acquired, as are official journals, bulletins, etc. of the European Communities, International Labour Organization and other international organizations and the Parliamentary Debates of Great Britain. Works on the international law of the sea are selectively acquired.

Revised 10/2000