THE HONOURABLE SOCIETY OF GRAY’S INN LIBRARY USER GUIDE Last Updated August 2014 CONTENTS WELCOME TO GRAY’S INN LIBRARY............................................................... 3 OPENING HOURS ................................................................................................ 4 THE LIBRARY COLLECTION .............................................................................. 5 BOOK LOANS ...................................................................................................... 7 COMPUTER FACILITIES ..................................................................................... 8 SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES ................................................................................ 9 THE LIBRARY CATALOGUE.............................................................................10 ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGIES ............................................................................11 PHOTOCOPYING ...............................................................................................12 DOCUMENT DELIVERY SERVICE ....................................................................13 LIBRARY TOURS FOR BPTC STUDENTS .......................................................14 COMMENTS ........................................................................................................14 SPECIALISATIONS OF THE INN LIBRARIES ..................................................15 LIBRARY MAP ....................................................................................................16 LAW LIBRARIES & LEGAL COLLECTIONS LOCAL TO LONDON ................19 CONTACT US .....................................................................................................20 2 Welcome to Gray’s Inn Library Gray’s Inn Library provides a high quality information service serving the needs of all our members by providing access to: ● Over 75,000 print resources, both current & historical ● An extensive range of online databases ● Professional library staff dedicated to assisting members with all their information needs ● A friendly & accessible working environment Library services are available to barrister and student members of the four Inns of Court. 3 Opening Hours MONDAY TO FRIDAY – 9AM TO 8PM During August and other holiday periods opening hours are normally 9am-5pm It is also occasionally necessary to close the Library early for special functions such as Call Day. Notices of early closures and any other changes to hours are posted in the Library and on the website. 2014 September March 27 September Middle Temple 7 March Middle Temple 14 March Gray’s Inn October 21 March Inner Temple 4 October Gray’s Inn 28 March Lincoln’s Inn 11 October Inner Temple 18 October Lincoln’s Inn April 25 October Middle Temple 4 April CLOSED November 11 April Middle Temple 1 November Gray’s Inn 18 April Gray’s Inn 8 November Inner Temple 25 April Inner Temple 15 November Lincoln’s Inn 22 November Middle Temple May 29 November Gray’s Inn 2 May Lincoln’s Inn 9 May Middle Temple December 16 May Gray’s Inn 6 December Inner Temple 23 May CLOSED 13 December Lincoln’s Inn 30 May Inner Temple 20 December CLOSED 27 December CLOSED June 6 June Lincoln’s Inn 2015 January 13 June Middle Temple 3 January CLOSED 20 June Gray’s Inn 10 January Middle Temple 27 June Inner Temple 17 January Gray’s Inn 24 January Inner Temple July 31 January Lincoln’s Inn 4 July Lincoln’s Inn 11 July Middle Temple February 18 July Gray’s Inn 7 February Middle Temple 25 July Inner Temple 14 February Gray’s Inn 21 February Inner Temple August CLOSED 28 February Lincoln’s Inn Access - There is only one point of entry for each of the Inns at the weekend, as follows: Inner & Middle Temple – Tudor Street | Gray’s Inn – High Holborn | Lincoln’s Inn – Lincoln’s Inn Fields 4 The Library Collection Gray’s Inn Library is primarily a reference library with open access to the majority of the collection. We aim to provide a comprehensive range of modern English legal materials designed to meet the needs of practising barristers and Bar students. Our Core Collection includes primary, secondary and local legislation, law reports, legal journals and magazines, encyclopaedias, text books, and legal databases. Old editions of textbooks are retained and can be consulted on request. The Library also has a collection of Northern Ireland and EU law (excluding the law of Member States). We also retain the major Scottish and Irish reports and have good collections of human rights and European Union law. The Key Specialist Collection of Gray’s Inn Library is International Law and is housed in the North Library. It provides comprehensive coverage of international treaties and public international law topics as well as materials relating to international commercial arbitration. Barristers also have access to the specialist collections of the other Inns of Court Libraries; Commonwealth law at Inner Temple and Lincoln’s Inn, United States and European Union law at Middle Temple and Parliamentary papers at Lincoln’s Inn. The Inn Libraries also divide responsibility for coverage of non-English UK, Channel Islands and Irish law and specialise in different areas of English law (see page 11). 5 New Books New titles are regularly added to the library’s collection. Suggestions for new titles may be referred to the Librarian for consideration by completing an online enquiry form via our website, or by e-mailing the Librarian direct: [email protected] (Please note that suggested titles will not necessarily be purchased automatically). We are always delighted to accept donations from authors of legal texts. All donations are acknowledged with a special bookplate and an announcement on the website, Facebook & Google Plus. The Times newspaper is available from 1785. Format varies according to date of publication and consists of hard copy, digital and Microfilm. Original bound copies of The Times are available for viewing only. Rare Books & Manuscripts The Library holds 24 Medieval manuscripts which are described in A catalogue of the ancient manuscripts belonging to The Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn, 1869, by Alfred Horwood. Microfilms of the medieval manuscripts are available from World Microfilms - http://www.microworld.uk.com/microfilms.asp#MEDIAEVAL We also have a small collection of post-medieval manuscripts, almost all on legal subjects and a collection of pre-1800 books, which includes a 1477 edition of Statham’s abridgement and a collection of the works of Francis Bacon (1561-1626) many in the first edition. Accredited researchers should contact the Librarian if they wish to consult any of the Inn’s manuscripts or rare books. 6 Book Loans Masters of the Bench of Gray's Inn may borrow material other than rare books and manuscripts for their own use, either in person, or through an intermediary on production of a note bearing the Bencher's signature. Barrister members and tenants of Gray's Inn may borrow selected items for overnight loan 30 minutes before the library closes: these must be returned by 9.30am the next day that the library is open. Barrister tenants of the Inn may also borrow bound copies of journals and law reports for up to an hour during the day to photocopy in chambers (for further details please apply to staff). 7 Computer facilities The suite of computers located throughout the library provides access to a wide range of online subscription services as well as the Microsoft Office Suite, the internet and our library catalogue. You can access the library's subscriptions to online legal databases via the library's internet home page using the Online Subscriptions tab at the top. Here you will find a comprehensive alphabetical and hyperlinked list of all of our online subscriptions. (The Library’s internet home page) Free Wi-Fi is available throughout the library – ask staff for logon details. Users are welcome to use their laptops in the Library; power points are situated under the tables on the main floor and in the upper gallery (see the floor maps at the end of this guide for locations). 8 Subscription Services This is a selection of the major online services available at Gray’s Inn Library. A comprehensive list of what is available online can be downloaded direct from the library website (titled ‘Find It Online’) or viewed from any of the library computers. Staff are happy to help users with any of these services, and free training sessions with the main legal database providers are held each year in the Library. SERVICE COVERAGE Full text of thousands of Immigration Tribunal determinations & selected key Electronic Immigration Network Judgments from UK Higher and European Courts (all chosen for their relevance to immigration & refugee law); Access to over 160,000 country reports with (EIN) daily updates to country information; Statutes & Statutory Instruments relevant to Immigration Law. Arbitration Law Loose-leaf (Current); Building Law Reports (1976 onwards); i-Law International Construction Law Review (2000 onwards); Lloyd's Law Reports (1919 onwards); Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly (2000 onwards) "Multi-jurisdictional Citator & Legal Search Engine" - Case Law, UK Statutes & SI's and EU legal information, with extensive links to full-text / PDF on JustCite databases (shown in bold if available at Gray's Inn Library), such as Justis, LexisNexis, Westlaw, BAILLI, etc. Contains entries for more than 2.4 million unique documents with more added every day. England and Wales Court of Appeal Cases: Civil (1957-89; 1993-date), Justis