Law Library Collections Guide

Reserve Materials

Course Reserve

Course reserve is a temporary, semester-long reserve collection. Materials are placed on course reserve for specific courses at the request of the professor. Materials on course reserve must be checked out as soon as they are removed from the shelf and may not be removed from the library for any reason. The course reserve section is located behind the reference desk in the front lobby of the library.

Reserve (Permanent Reserve)

The library permanent reserve collection is located in the south reading room on the first floor. The collection includes current treatises, restatements and some multi-volume reference works and directories. Reserve items can be checked out for a limited time. Older treatises and restatements are available in the general collection.

Non-Reserve Books and Periodicals

General Collection

The general collection is the library's collection of classified books. The books are located on the second floor and are shelved by call number. General collection books circulate for varying times depending on the patron's affiliation with the library. Exceptions are any multi-volume sets or loose-leaf titles, which do not circulate and must remain in the library.

Federal Collection

The Federal Collection is an unclassified collection of Federal legal materials including statutes, session laws, court reporters, digests, legal encyclopedias, administrative materials and more. The Federal Collection is located in the north section of the library, in the north reading room and in the northeast corner by the Seminar Room.

Florida Collection

The Florida collection is comprised of a number of books on Florida state law, including treatises, indexes, forms, practice guides and topical reporters. The collection is located in the microform room in the southeast corner of the first floor. Florida statutes, reporters, digests, legal encyclopedias and the Florida Administrative Code are located in the north reading room. Historical Florida laws are in the northeast corner.

Periodicals

Periodicals are located on the compact shelving in the north and south reading rooms. The collection is organized alphabetically by journal title. The collection begins with "A" in the north reading room and moves to the south reading room for the second-half of the alphabet. Magazine periodicals are located in the front lobby. The day's newspapers are on the rack next to the reference desk. Recent newspapers are located in the microform room.

Regional Collection

The regional collection is the library's collection of United States regional court reporters and digests. They are located in the north reading room and in the northeast corner room on the first floor.

Reference

The library reference collection is located on the shelves in between the Reference and Circulation desks in the front lobby. Reference titles do not circulate.

State Collection

The state collection is the library's collection of non-Florida state legal materials. It is located in the northeast corner of the first floor.

Study Aids

Study aids include commercial outlines and exam preparation materials in book and audiovisual form. They are located behind the Circulation Desk and can be checked out for a limited time.

Non-Print Materials

Audiovisual Materials

Audiovisual materials are any library materials on CD-ROM, audio CD, DVD, audio cassette or video cassette. In most cases, they can be checked out and removed from the library. Materials on Course Reserve and certain archival materials may not be removed from the library. Audiovisual materials are located in several places in the library. DVDs and video cassettes are in the reserve area in the south reading room. Audio cassettes and CDs, including both study aids and CLE programs are located with the study materials behind the circulation desk. CD-ROMs are also located behind the circulation desk.

Media Equipment

The media equipment is part of the library's Audio-Visual Department. Certain equipment can be checked out to students requiring it for class purposes. See the library's Audio-Visual page for more information.

Microforms

The library's microform collection includes both microfilm and microfiche. They are located in the microform room in the southeast corner of the first floor. The microforms are located in cabinets arranged by call number. Two readers are located in the room, which can be used to read, print or scan the materials.