Use the tabs above to understand how the Law Bod's collection is arranged. There is an Enquiry Desk on Level 2, just as you enter the main Reading Room: please do come and have a word if you are having any difficulty in using the library.
Looking for a Reading List title?
When you search SOLO for books on your Oxford Law Faculty Reading List you may find that the location is shown as Law Library Reserve Collection. Books in this collection must be asked for at the Enquiry Desk on Level 2. Please remember to bring your Oxford University Card or your Bodleian Reader's Card when you come to the Desk.
Note. The books in the Reserve Collection are available to all categories of readers, not just those on the particular course.
The Law Library's collection is fully catalogued on SOLO, Oxford University's online resource discovery tool.
Some Subject search terms with a clearly legal dimension to try in SOLO
Indigenous peoples (International law)
Self-determination, National
Indigenous peoples -- Legal status, laws, etc
Indigenous peoples -- Civil rights
Indigenous peoples Land tenure
Minorities Legal status, laws, etc
Minorities -- Civil rights
Linguistic minorities -- Legal status, laws, etc
Linguistic rights
Race discrimination -- Law and legislation
Legal polycentricity
Customary law
Please use the boxes in the right hand column of this page to find guidance on particular aspects of indigenous law and natonal responses.
For those wishing to learn more about using searches, we recommend the following:
Guides to Methodology
Subject search terms to use in SOLO include:
Indigenous peoples -- Research -- Methodology
Indigenous peoples -- Research -- Moral and ethical aspects
Postcolonialism -- Research -- Methodology
There may also be useful chapters in books classified under
Ethnology
Applied anthropology
Ethnological jurisprudence
Sociological jurisprudence
Law and anthropology
Pay particular attention to the location of print books - you may well be directed to other parts of the Bodleian such as the Social Science Library or the Tylor.
Decolonizing Methodologies by 
Indigenous Research Ethics by 
Sources and Methods in Indigenous Studies by 
Asking Questions about Cultural Anthropology by 
The Oxford Handbook of Law and Anthropology by 
Out of Place : fieldwork and positionality in law and society by Customary Law
Legal polycentricity
Sociology of Law
Cultural Diversity
Aboriginal Peoples, Colonialism and International Law by 
Legal Pluralism in Ethiopia : Actors, Challenges and Solutions by 
The Rule of Law and Governance in Indigenous Yoruba Society by The Law Library divides its current collections for jurisdictions across 3 levels. Each of these floors is connected by both stairs and a lift. There is also reader spaces on each floor, but we are happy for you to take books from one floor to another.
Level 2
This is the entrance level to the library. It has the books relating to the law of our home jurisdiction (UK/England and Wales), other parts of the British Isles and the common law jurisdictions including Australia, Canada, and USA.
Level 3
This is one floor above the entrance level to the library. Here you willl find the collection for the European & Scandinavian jurisdictions.
Level 1
This is one floor below the entrance level to the library. Here the remaining jurisdictions are arranged, alphabetically by the English name of the nation. This is where to find, for example, books on the laws of the individual African states.
Subject searches to use in SOLO include
Indigenous peoples -- Legal status, laws, etc
Indigenous peoples -- Civil rights
Indigenous peoples Land tenure
Minorities Legal status, laws, etc
Minorities -- Civil rights
Linguistic minorities -- Legal status, laws, etc
Linguistic rights
Race discrimination -- Law and legislation
The following guides all have a page looking at resources for their first peoples.
On Level 2, the level at which you enter the Law Library, an area of the open shelf collection has books with shelf marks beginning General.
This is where you will find comparative studies, and works surveying the response to legal problems in two or more jurisdictions.
If all the countries being compared are (or were) members of the Commonwealth, the book should have a shelf mark beginning Cw Gen. This collection is also on Level 2, but separate from General.
Please ask at the Enquiry Desk on Level 2 if you are having difficulty finding your way round our collection.
Aboriginal Title : the modern jurisprudence of tribal land rights by 
Indigenous Peoples and the Law : Critical Concepts in Law by 
Indigenous rights in the Commonwealth Caribbean and Americas Regional Expert Meeting conference papers by 
Indigenous Criminology by Looking for a Reading List title?
When you search SOLO for books on your Reading List you may find that the location is shown as Law Library Reserve Collection. The Reserve Collection is also on Level 2 but are shelved in a discrete run. Please ask at the Enquiry Desk for directions when you are next in the Law Library.
Note. The books in the Reserve Collection are available to all categories of readers (not just those on the particular course),
International law books in the Reserve Collection have shelf marks beginning KC.
Indigenous Peoples in International Law by 
Indigenous Peoples' Status in the International Legal System by 
Indigenous Peoples and human rights : international and regional jurisprudence by 
Indigenous Peoples' Land Rights under International Law by 
The Routledge handbook of self-determination and secession by SOLO searches will bring back potentionally useful reading materials from other parts of the Bodleian - unless you decide to filter your search to an individual library.
For example a copy of the print book below is held in the Bodleian Social Science Library.
Reclaiming Indigenous Governance by If your research has a United States focus, then you may be visiting the Bodleian Vere Harmsworth Library
A Sovereign People : indigenous nationhood, traditional law, and the covenants of the Cheyenne nation by The Bodleian History collections are another possibility
Petitioning for Land: the petitions of First Peoples of modern British colonies by 
Native Claims : indigenous law against empire, 1500-1920 by 
Sovereignty, Property and Empire, 1500-2000 by Among the search terms to use in SOLO are:
Indigenous peoples -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- History
Indigenous peoples -- Claims -- History
Colonies -- Law and legislation
Colonization -- History
Sovereignty -- History
Boundaries -- History
Other Bodleian Libguides may be useful