This guide is intended for students and researchers studying cultural heritage law at the University of Oxford, although students and researchers from any field may find it useful.
Use this guide to find out about sources and commentary for cultural heritage law, including ebooks, ejournals, and databases.
Cultural heritage or cultural property law (the terms are used interchangeably) regulates and protects
Tangible cultural heritage:
movable cultural heritage (paintings, sculptures, coins, manuscripts)
immovable cultural heritage (monuments, archaeological sites, and so on)
underwater cultural heritage (shipwrecks, underwater ruins and cities)
Intangible cultural heritage: oral traditions, performing arts, rituals.
Natural heritage: natural sites with cultural aspects (physical, biological or geological formations)
Heritage in the event of armed conflict
The Oxford Handbook of International Cultural Heritage Law by 
Frontiers of Cultural Heritage Law by 
International Cultural Heritage Law by 
Cultural Objects and Reparative Justice: A Legal and Historical Analysis by Open access available to all with access to the internet
Confronting Colonial Objects : Histories, Legalities, and Access to Culture by Print collection
The Bodleian Law Library has four floors of open shelf materials - and an interest in this topic may have you visiting several!
For further guidance on finding commentary, please visit the Books and Journals pages in this guide.
There is an Enquiry Desk just after you enter the Reading Room, please do always feel free to ask for directions once you are in the library.
An example of a title on topic which is available on Level 3, one floor above the entrance level to the law library.
The UNESCO Convention on the Diversity of Cultural Expressions by Depending on the nature of your research interests, searches on SOLO, Oxford University's online catalogue, may reveal useful materials are held in other parts of the Bodleian:
The Balfour Library is located on the first floor of the Pitt Rivers Museum, entry to which is via Museum of Natural History on Parks Road (OX1 3PW), Entrance to this building is free and no booking is required. (Correct as of January 2025)
Any member of the the University of Oxford may register as a reader of the Balfour, but borrowing is normally restricted to undergraduate and postgraduate students of the School of Anthropology and Museum Ethnography and the School of Archaeology, as well as Human Sciences undergraduates, and academic staff. Other current University of Oxford members may be given borrowing rights at the discretion of the Librarian. Telephone: +44 1865 270 939 Email: library@prm.ox.ac.uk
External readers may be admitted for reference only use, at the discretion of the Librarian. Please make contact before visiting Oxford: Telephone: +44 1865 270 939 Email: library@prm.ox.ac.uk
