If you find internet references to documents, without full text availability online, use SOLO to locate paper copies of items received in the EDC since 1988; pre-1988 material can be accessed via a card title catalogue.
If you are searching for older material, you may find indexing methods within individual publications such as the Official Journal (O.J) poor. Many important items appear in issues of periodicals, which are not indexed separately. If you are looking for something in the Official Journal try using a database first, to get an O.J. reference.
General subject access, using statistics, and answering broad policy questions using the EDC publications can be difficult. The classification system, which is different from that used in the Bodleian Law Library, is listed on the end of the shelves in the EDC, and is available online if you click on the tab EDC shelfmarks (above). Although the EDC is broadly arranged by subject, the multi-disciplinary approach may make browsing unsuccessful. If you have any problems in finding material, please ask - it is likely to save you a lot of time.
There is a small collection of reference material in the EDC, which is mainly bibliographical. It contains some good handbooks and directories, e.g. Vacher’s European Companion (shelved at EDC/EC.8.8), books on the Single Market and the European Parliament.
Other materials about the EU, including text books and legal periodicals, are kept in the Euro Comm section of the Bodleian Law Library, and elsewhere in the Bodleian Libraries. You can identify them via the online catalogue SOLO, and most (with the exception of open access materials in other Reading Rooms) may be ordered to the Bodleian Law Library.
The following resources may help you to identify and trace further relevant material:
| Davies, E (ed) | Eurojargon: a dictionary of European Union acronyms, abbreviations and terminology. 7th ed. | Euro Comm 450 R178a7 |
| Jeffries, J | A guide to the official publications of the European Communities. (Covers the period up to the end of 1979). | EDC / EC.1.2 |
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Thomson, I |
The documentation of the European Communities: a guide. (This continues coverage to early 1988). | EDC / EC.1.5 |
| Overy, P |
European information: a guide to official sources. Published 2005. (There is an up-to-date online version available via the members’ area of the European Information Association website http://www.eia.org.uk/ Please ask the staff (email edc@bodleian.ox.ac.uk) if you wish to consult it). |
Euro Comm 400 O96a |