Law

Purpose: To support teaching and research at the undergraduate, interdisciplinary level. Law materials are used in the following departments/areas: Political Science, Criminal Justice, Pre-Law, Constitutional Law, Civil Rights, Business Law, Natural Resource management, Communications Law, Public Administration, Food and Nutrition, Native American Studies, History, International Business, Pharmacy, and Agricultural and Resource Economics. Law materials are also used for general reference purposes.

1. Languages: English or English translation.
2. Chronological Guidelines: Although the emphasis is on contemporary affairs, certain areas such as constitutional law require materials dealing with earlier periods.
3. Geographical Guidelines: Predominantly United States law, from the national to the local level. Materials in comparative foreign legal systems are purchased very selectively.
4. Treatment of the Subject: The basic components of the collection are: statutes, codes, digests, reporters, and legal encyclopedias. Textbooks containing cases and interpretations are purchased selectively.
5. Types of Material: Materials acquired are in the form of books and periodicals. Law materials are frequently monographs and monographic sets which are kept up to date by supplements, updates or pocket parts, hence serials. Statutes, codes, digests and reporters are also serials. Thus, the law collection is predominantly serials, proportionate to the number of titles. United States government documents are collected extensively, as they are the primary source of federal law. The library subscribes to print editions of selected reporters, codes, digests, statutes and encyclopedias. Access to other legal materials and law reviews is almost exclusively electronic via Lexis-Nexis, the premier electronic full-text database for legal research.
6. Date of Publication: Current law and interpretations.
7. Other General Considerations: WSU does not have a law school. A reciprocal agreement with the University of Idaho Library provides access to their Law Library holdings and their U.S. regional depository collection.