522
The Green Bag 11. 2.
construed the statement quoted more
narrowly than did other librarians. Nevertheless, the nucleus for a valu able report on special collections of legal literature has been received. The in
2.
(1.
3.
4.
6.
The value of these reports is lessened somewhat by the facts that terms are not used synonymously by all librarians, and that the information is often given with meager details. The combined re
port thus far compiled is therefore very fragmentary. Completeness in a given field of legal literature may make a collection of
special note, even though other libraries have many volumes in the same class. Therefore it is suggested that a re estimate of the resources of the several law libraries be made by their librarians along lines exemplified by the following
‘sample headings.
Of course, further
headings and subdivisions will be sug
gested to each librarian by the wealth of his own library. > International Law. 1. General. 2. Maritime. 3. Sources, 1'. e., documents, treaties, proclamations, correspondence, ar
Laws.
Codes. Laws.
0 Reports Periodicals a. In English language. b. In other languages. Various fields of law, such as Insur ance Law, Corporation Law, Rail
7.
road Law, Negligence Cases, etc. Treatises. a. American. b. English. c. Other Countries.
There is no class of libraries in which a greater amount of money, as reckoned
by cost per volume, is invested, than in law libraries, and no books exceed law books in practical utility as working tools. Moreover, the historian, the soci
ologist and the political scientist would lose their most reliable source material if the records of civilization, contained in published laws, were denied to them. There is every incentive, therefore, to make known to scholars the r'esources
of our law libraries. The opportunity offered by the forthcoming report on special libraries is not merely to present an array of statistics, but to describe in words those legal collections which for any reason are notable. If the sugges tions contained in this article call forth any further information, it should be
bitrations, etc.
4. Law. 1.
British Colonial.
c. Court Reports. L atin-America. 0. b.
5
lish language). American. English. Scottish.
Foreign Law (non-English), Europe, Asia, Africa. 0 Codes and Compilations. 17.
and Early Territorial Laws, American, English and British Colonial Reports and Statutes, Cases and Briefs, Criminal Law, Trials, Treatises, Periodicals, Bar Association Reports, and Railroad Law.
Statutes, Session Laws, etc. (in Eng
a. b. 0.
formation sent in was classified by the librarians themselves under the follow ing headings: Civil and Canon Law, Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law, International Law, Ancient Law, Roman Law, Foreign Law, Latin-American Law, Mohammedan Law, American Colonial
Irish. British Colonial.
Periodicals. Reports (in English language). a. American.
sent to Mr. W. Dawson Johnston, Libra rian of Columbia University, and editor
Federal.
b. c.
English. Scottish.
State.
of the report to be published by the United States Bureau of Education.
