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People on the move: legal & HR responses: Books

Subjects: Law, Refugee Studies

Finding ebooks and books in the Bodleian Libraries

Use the tabs for more detailed guidance on finding books in the major Oxford University libraries supporting refugee studies.

Help with finding books

Both the collections held by the Bodleian Law Library and the Bodleian Social Science Library are fully catalogued on SOLO, Oxford University's online resource discovery tool.

Refugees -- Legal status, laws, etc

Refugees -- Protection -- International cooperation

War - protection of civilians

Political refugees

Refugee rights
Legal assistance to refugees 

Asylum, Right of

Asylum Seekers

Refugees -- Civil rights 
Political refugees -- Civil rights

Refugee children -- 
Immigrant children -- Legal status, laws, etc 
 

Immigrants -- Civil rights 
Aliens -- Civil rights

Emigration and immigration law

Safe third country

Forced migration

Population transfers

Freedom of Movement (International law)

It is also probable that books classified just under broader subject areas - such as Humanitarian law or Human rights - will also have useful material.

For those wishing to learn more about getting the most out of SOLO searches, we recommend the following:

Further guidance on particular aspects/topics:

For English asylum, migration and nationality law

Holders of an Oxford SSO can access Halsbury's Laws of England (and its related services) online via LexisLibrary. The print copy is available at KZ1 on Level 2, the entrance level to the Law Library

For international law aspects

Holders of an Oxford SSO have access to the Max Planck Encyclopedias. These are the Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law (MPEPIL) and the Max Planck Encyclopedia of International Procedural Law (MPEIPL) The two can be searched and browsed together, or separately by using appropriate filters. They are regularly updated - in the sense of both existing entries being revised and new entries being added.

The following works are encyclopaedic in scope if not by name!

The first three require an Oxford SSO for remote access.

Open access resource available to anyone with access to the internet:

Please use the box on the right to find other pages in this guide relevant to your research interests.

A brief description of the arrangement of the Law Library's book collection.

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 as the collection is shelved across four floors. 

Level 2, the floor at which you enter the Law Library
Here you will find books relating to the national laws of the jurisdictions of the British Isles, Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and USA. These books have shelf marks beginning K.
Level 2 is also where you can find comparative studies, with shelf marks beginning General or Cw Gen.

Level 3, one floor above the entrance level to the Law Library.

European jurisdictions
European Union Law  
These books have shelf marks beginning Euro Comm
Public International Law  books are arranged according to a broad in-house classification. Those sections most likely to have useful titles are: 

Internat 500 General and theory
Internat 565 Nationality
Internat 570 Human rights
Internat 575 European Court of Human Rights:  literature
Internat 610 Social legislation and organisation
Internat 750 War and armed conflict

Criminology - with shelf marks beginning Crim

Level 1, one floor below the entrance level to the Law Library.

Remaining national jurisdictions

Depending on the focus of your research, you may well find that SOLO results are directing you to our nearest neighbour the Bodleian Social Science Library. The SSL is the holder of the Bodleian collections on Migration Studies and Refugee & Forced Migration Studies among others.

The SSL uses the Library of Congress classification system for its collection. Key sections of the collection supporting your studies will be:

  • HB1952 (Internal migration)
  • HV640 (Refugee Relief)
  • JV6001-9480 (Immigration)
  • K3230-3278 (International Refugee Law)

To get the most out of the SSL's collection, we recommend the guide below written by our SSL colleague, the specialist librarian for refugee studies.

Further help with specific topics

Recommend a book

If the Bodleian Libraries don't have the print or ebook you are looking for, you can make a recommendation by completing the form below (Oxford Single-Sign On required).

Inter-library requests

If the Bodleian Libraries don't have the book you are looking for, we may be able to source it through Oxford's inter-library request service.