ABSTRACT
The best guide to finding a law collection in the British Isles is the Directory of British and Irish Law Libraries, compiled for the British and Irish Association of Law Librarians (BIALL) by Pauline Fothergill (Hebden Bridge: Legal Information Resources Ltd., 6th ed., 1998). The Association is the special interest group for law librarians. The directory lists over 500 law libraries with brief details of the size of their collection, opening hours, etc., but most importantly, a named contact. All the entries are arranged geographically, so it’s quite easy to trace if there’s a law library nearby. The directory includes libraries in universities, the law courts, government, law firms, the public library service and special libraries. Not all are open to non-members, and some may have very specialised collections, so it’s worth ‘phoning before setting off to use them.
