Finding Books in the Law Library
by Rachel Ford on September 16th, 2024 | 0 Comments
If you're looking for legal information in books and other physical formats, the Law Library is a great place to find what you need--but do you know where in the Library to go? Here are some tips to help you get started.
Using HuskieSearch
HuskieSearch is often the best place to start, whether you're looking for a known title or more generally for information on a given topic. This platform can search all the physical items (and many of the online titles) held by the libraries at NIU. By default, HuskieSearch will look for books in Founders Memorial Library as well as the Law Library, but after starting a search, you can use the filters to choose just the Law Library. There are additional filters for searching by the type of item, its publication date, and much more, so feel free to browse the HuskieSearch Help guide for more details.
Sometimes the book you're looking for won't be found in the NIU libraries. But HuskieSearch can still help! You can request items from other Illinois academic libraries (via I-Share) while you're in HuskieSearch by changing the search scope in the dropdown menu from "Library Catalog" to "All I-Share Libraries." I-Share step-by-step instructions and a video are also available.
If the book you need isn't owned by any I-Share libraries, then just fill out this interlibrary loan request form, and we'll request a copy from other libraries across the country. (This is not an option for textbooks, however, because loan times are generally shorter than a semester, and books may not arrive for two weeks.)
Navigating the Law Library
Once you've found an book you're interested in on HuskieSearch, the next step is to find it in the Law Library. Most of the items you need will be accessible on the shelves around the library. You're welcome to browse and read books in the Library anytime or bring them to the Circulation Desk for check out.
Many books will be located in the Historical Collection in the South Wing or the Current Collection in the main entry section of the Law Library. Smaller collections (such as the IICLEs, Browsable Reserves, and the Reynolds collections) can be found on the wall shelves surrounding the main entry.
When you search in HuskieSearch, you might also find items with "Storage" or "Ask at Circulation Desk" in the location. Those are often older editions and so are located within the Law Library's closed workspaces. Please ask at the Circulation Desk or reach out to a law librarian to access these items.
Decoding Call Numbers
The Law Library uses the Library of Congress Classification system to organize our collection, so every item can be found using the call number on its spine or front cover as its "address." This works similarly to the Dewey Decimal System you may be familiar with from public or school libraries, but unlike Dewey, these call numbers also include letters and can be several rows long.
But no need to worry! The order is very logical and mostly simple to follow. You'll read the call number from left-to-right and top-to-bottom, following alphabetical and numerical order. Our aisles of bookshelves ("stacks") are arranged so you can follow the call numbers left to right and top to bottom along an aisle before wrapping around to the other side, using the call number labels on the ends of each aisle to get close. For a longer explanation of how LCC call numbers work, check out the details below.
LCC call numbers are often multiple lines, and each line contains slightly different information, which may be read differently. To find a book, you'll move from top to bottom in order of specificity until you reach the book you need. When viewed on HuskieSearch, the call number will generally be a single line of sequential letters and numbers, but the order is the same.
- The capital letters at the start of the call number indicate the "class" or general category and are sorted alphabetically. Most items in the Law Library are in class "K" for law, specifically subclass "KF" for United States law.
- As librarians like to say, "Nothing comes before something," so items with just a "K" will all come before "KF" regardless of the numbers that follow, and all "KF" items will come before "KFI" (Illinois law).
- The numbers that come after the initial letters further narrow the book by topic and are sorted in numerical order. Sometimes there will be a decimal point in this number. Regardless, they are sorted just like a number line from left to right: 42, 42.5, 43, 55, etc.
- Next comes a letter immediately followed by numbers, sometimes called a cutter number. This is often the first letter of the author's surname, so books on the same subject can be sorted alphabetically by author. We follow alphabetical order for the letters, and all the numbers are considered decimals (often there will be a decimal point at the start of the line to indicate this). That means the third line are sorted like this: .R2, .R205, .R22, .R3, etc. (Sometimes there will be a second line of letters and numbers, which will be sorted in the same way among all the other books sharing the same first cutter.)
- Generally, the last part of a call number is the publication date of the item, sorted in sequential order: 1912, 1956, 1999, 2015, etc. This won't matter much for finding the item, unless there have been multiple editions of the same title.
- In larger sets of books, there may be a volume number below this, sorted in ordinary numerical order: v.1, v.2, v.3, etc.
Getting Help
Sometimes an item might be missing or unavailable or you might not be sure where to look for a particular collection. Regardless of the reason, please don't hesitate to ask for help!
- Stop by the Circulation Desk during regular operating hours. If the desk is unstaffed at the moment, ring the bell, and someone will assist momentarily.
- Place a hold on the item in HuskieSeach, if you found the record but not the item. When you're looking at an item record, the "Request from Library" option can be found in the "Get It" section, once you've signed in with your NIU credentials. Step-by-step instructions and an instructional video are available. After the hold is placed, we will search for the item and place it on hold for you to pick up at the Circulation Desk or, if it can't be found, we can request a copy for you from another library.
- Email us. You can reach out to a librarian individually or send a message to lawreference@niu.edu, and we'll be happy to help.
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