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Law: Books, Media, More

UC Library Search UC Library Search includes all UC Libraries and some of Worldcat

UC Library Search, accessible from the search box on the library's homepage, helps you locate books, film, music, maps, and various other materials at the UC San Diego Library and beyond. It also contains a limited number of online journals and newspaper articles. You may search by keyword, title, and author, and filter your search to what is available online. You can also place an interlibrary loan request through UC Library Search for materials at other UC campuses or libraries worldwide using your Single Sign-On credentials.

 

Search Tips 

  • Sign in to access full results lists, electronic resources, request items, and save records. To access electronic resources, you must be logged into the VPN.
  • Capitalize the operators AND, OR, NOT when combining key search terms.
  • To request items that the Library doesn't have click the Request button.
  • Click Digitalization to request scans of print book chapters or print articles.

 

UC Library Search is one part of your complete search.

 

UC Library Search does not include all the content to which the Library subscribes. To extend your search, try a database. The database you use depends on the topic or subject you have chosen and the type of information you need to access. You may choose among broad subject areas (e.g., biology, art, political science, etc.), as well as interdisciplinary databases or ones that search across multiple disciplines. 

A-Z Databases

Find Treatises & Other Books

►Search tip: Remember that you're only searching basic cataloging information about the book (not the book contents itself) so keep your search general.

Begin with a keyword search, for example

supreme court AND guns

supreme court AND (guns OR "second amendment")

►Bonus Search Tip: When you find a record for a book that looks useful, look at the subject headings. In UC Library Search, these subject headings are clickable links that run a new search. Searching by these subject headings may help find resources that don't turn up with an initial keyword search. They might also give you ideas of other search terms to use in your keyword search.

Reference works are also a good place to begin your research, as they generally provide background information and often cite longer, more authoritative research works on the topic.

Legal scholarship includes several types of specialized books:

  • Treatises are books or sets of books that cover a single legal topic in depth.
  • Hornbooks are one volume treatises written primarily for law students and typically cover subjects commonly covered in law school.
  • Casebooks are textbooks that contain the text of cases covering particular legal topics.

Use UC Library Search to find books at UC San Diego and other UCs. Some major treatises are included in Westlaw, Nexis Uni, and HeinOnline.

Encyclopedias, Handbooks, Dictionaries, Reference Books

Use UC Library Search to search for encyclopedia, dictionary, and other reference entries by limiting search results to Resource Type: "Reference Entries." To find content that is available in ebooks and online resources, limit to "Available Online."

Alternately, use the Resource Type limit "Book Chapters" to find longer overviews.

Screenshot of UC Library Search search for the term gun violence. Limits for Resource Type: Reference Entries and Show Only: Available Online are each surrounded by a red.box.

Google Books search

►Bonus search tip: Having trouble finding books using the online catalog? Search the contents of books using Google Books, then do a title search in UC Library Search.

Google Book Search

►Super bonus tip: Use Google Scholar's "intitle:" limit to search your search term within reference books like encyclopedias, handbooks, dictionaries, etc.