Our Collections

The Law Library encompasses three floors within the law school and provides access to a comprehensive collection of current and historical Colorado legal materials as well as a substantial collection of materials related to American and international law topics. The Law Library is also a selective depository for U.S. Government documents and provides preservation stewardship for several federal titles. In addition to the print collection, the Law Library also subscribes to a large number of research databases and provides open access digital collections of cultural heritage, archival, and primary law for researchers in Colorado, and around the world.

Is there an item you would like the William A. Wise
Law Library to consider purchasing?
Please fill out our .

William A. Wise Law Library Collection Development Policy

Mission Statement

As the intellectual heart of the University of Colorado Law School, the Law Library provides a collaborative environment for faculty and students to access legal resources in all formats, and expertise in using them. We also serve the legal information needs of the University of Colorado community, the Colorado bench and bar, and the people of Colorado.

What we collect

To support Faculty research, student course work and public services we collect:

  1. Books (print and electronic)
  2. Databases
  3. Study Aids (print and electronic)

The Law Library acquires materials in a very wide range of subject areas of law. In accordance with its mission, the Law Library places emphasis on subjects taught in School of Law courses, content areas in which the School of Law faculty conduct research, or which are the focus of publications of the School of Law.

The Law Library collects materials in support of the research centers, law clinics, and the programs in areas of academic excellence of the School.

The Research Centers include:

  • The Byron R. White Center for the Study of American Constitutional Law,
  • Getches-Wilkinson Center for Natural Resources, Energy, and the Environment, and
  • the Silicon Flatirons Center for Law, Technology, and Entrepreneurship.

The LLM, Master’s and Certificate Programs include:

  • Entrepreneurship and Business Law:
  • Indigenous Peoples Law:
  • Intellectual Property, Technology, and Telecommunications Law
  • International Law and Human Rights:
  • Natural Resources, Energy, and Environmental Law:
  • US Law for Foreign Lawyers:

Clinics

  • American Indian Law Clinic
  • Civil Practice Clinic
  • Criminal Defense Clinic
  • Criminal/Immigration Defense Clinic
  • Entrepreneurial Law Clinic
  • Juvenile and Family Law Clinic
  • Natural Resources, Energy & Environmental Law Clinic
  • Sustainable Community Development Clinic
  • Technology Law and Policy Clinic
Audiences and Selection

In addition to our faculty and students, as a publicly supported institution, the Law Library makes its resources available to legal researchers, lawyers, scholars, and the general public. The Law Library strives to meet the basic legal information needs of these audiences.

Our objective is to develop a collection and systems of access to resources that will support the curriculum and research needs of its primary audience, and will meet the standards of both the American Bar Association and the Association of American Law Schools. The collection development policy of the Law Library focuses on acquiring and providing access to materials that are relevant to the instructional and research programs of this audience.

In general, the Law Library collection will not include non-law materials.

Textbooks/Casebooks

The Law Library will purchase 2 copies of required textbooks and 1 copy of optional materials assigned for law classes to be put on Course Reserve at the Circulation Desk. These may be checked out for two (2) hours.

Online access to materials

The Law Library provides limited online access to study aids and primary and secondary materials.

Languages

The Law Library generally prefers to collect English language materials if available.

Gifts

The Law Library appreciates the donation of gift materials. As a general rule, the Law Library only accepts donations that are without conditions on their use or disposal. The Associate Director for Resource Access and Discovery, and the Collection Services and Research Librarian, in consultation with the Law Library Director, determines the disposition of all gift materials based on the evaluation criteria used for all other acquisitions. The Law Library will determine the classification, housing, and circulation of all gift items, and retains the right to dispose of gifts at any time and in any manner deemed appropriate.

The Law Library always collects primary Federal and Colorado State law materials and rarely acquires duplicate copies of primary materials.

Government Documents

The main campus library is the regional repository for government documents.

The Law Library also relies on Proquest Legislative Insight, ProQuest Congressional, ProQuest’s Supreme Court Records & Briefs, and Nexis UNI for information for U.S. federal statutes.

Rare Books

The Law Library maintains a small collection of rare legal titles in the Rare Books Room, as well as a collection of historical materials, primarily from Colorado, and a few archival collections.

The acquisition of rare books will not be a priority, except, for example, for purchases in honor of faculty appointed to endowed chairs or professorships in the Law School.