About the Boley Law Library: Special Collections

The following materials are on reserve and can be requested at the Library Desk:

1. Reserve Materials. The Reserve Collection contains copies of textbooks, course materials, and selected study aids. All Reserve items are listed in the online catalog. 

2. Power cords and other things you forgot to bring to school. 
   You can check out the following items at the Library Desk:

   Bike locks	LegalBoard for PC
   Book stands	LegalPad for Mac
   Computer mice	Macbook chargers
   Happy lights	PC laptop chargers
   Headphones	Portable standing desks
   iPhone chargers (including outlet plugs)	Thumb drive

Please review our Fines & Fees schedule for information about overdue and lost item replacement fees that apply to materials on Reserve.

The Reference Collection is located on the low shelving throughout the Boley Atrium. It includes government and court directories, Who’s Who, encyclopedias, academic directories, legal education directories, dictionaries, thesauri and other miscellaneous directories. Also located on short shelves in the Boley Atrium is the legal encyclopedia American Jurisprudence (AmJur) and American Jurisprudence, 2d (AmJur2d).

Located on the top floor of Wood Hall, the Nycum Rare Book Room collection of materials is a consolidation of works that have been contributed by individuals, families, and unknown donors as well as being found on the shelves of the Boley Library itself. The greatest number of works, some 55+, have come from Professor Peter S. Nycum’s Library. In addition to the Nycum collection, other works have come from the library of Matthew and Edward Deady, while other volumes were contributed by Richard Nahstoll, Folger Johnson, the George Heilig family, and Robert Weiss.

The particular titles housed in the Nycum Rare Book Room are described in an annotated catalog of the collection which is available at the Library Desk. Although this collection is not open to the public, researchers needing access can apply to the Dean of the Library. Some small-scale events are held in the Rare Book Room, and those should be scheduled through the Law School Events office. 

This special collection was established in 1971 by the family and friends of the Honorable Milton A. Pearl, the late Director of the Public Land Law Review Commission and former Counsel of the Subcommittee on Public Lands of the House Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs. This collection includes environmental and natural resource related treatises, government documents and reports, and periodicals. 

The Boley Law Library maintains a special collection of law-related fiction books and DVDs, biography, and nonfiction works written by and about lawyers. The Doreen Margolin Law in Popular Culture Collection honors the memory and work of the late Doreen Margolin ’81 and her love and support of the law and education. Local criminal lawyer-turned-novelist Phillip Margolin, Doreen’s husband, donated his impressive body of work and secured donations from many of his fellow authors, family, and friends. These materials include signed editions of novels by Steve Martini, Scott Turow, John Grisham, and William Bernhardt.

The Law School hosts the National Crime Victim Law Institute and to support its work, the library supports a growing collection of materials concerning the rights of crime victims and related areas.

Retired Professor and former law library director, Peter S. Nycum amassed a large collection of legal history materials during his 33 years at the Law School. Upon his retirement he donated approximately 3,000 volumes to the law library for a special legal history collection.

International Whaling Commission: Patricia Forkan Collection

The papers of Senior Vice President of the Humane Society of the United States, Patricia Forkan, this collection consists of approximately fifteen linear feet of materials that document the creation and business practices of the International Whaling Commission (IWC). In date, this collection ranges from approximately 1971 to 2004 and is primarily composed of records relating the IWC’s annual meetings. Materials relating to annual meetings include agendas, voting records, resolutions opening statements, reports, and schedules, as well as documents relating to the Commission’s three main committees - Scientific, Technical, and Finance and Administration. Technical and Scientific sub-committees including reports and meeting agendas and guidelines also comprise the collection. A large portion of this collection also includes correspondence, memos and other communications from the International Whaling Commission, the Humane Society, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW), and other agencies, as well as press releases and clippings pertaining to the whaling industry, whaling agencies, and whale sanctuaries. Reports, clippings and other documentation relating to the Makah tribe and other ethnic groups are also contained within the collection. Some documents have been digitized.  The Index and finding aids for the collection are available here. Digital copies of the IWC's agendas and scientific reports from 1974-2006 are available here; more documents will be added to the digital collection soon.