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University of Bergen Library
LIBRARY SUBJECT PAGE FOR LAW

The Law Library

This website provides an overview of services and resources at The Law Library. The Law Library is located on the 5th floor of the Law Faculty building, in Magnus Lagabøtes plass 1.

Picture of library room with tables, chairs, bookshelves
A section of the Law Library, showing bookshelves and study spaces.
Photo:
Eivind Senneset

Main content

Welcome to the Law Library!

The University Library is a public academic library, and part of the academic and pedagogical support services at the University of Bergen. At times we also host scholarly events. This website provides an overview of our services and resources.

Many of our new study spaces facilitate collaboration, and here we welcome the noise that comes with ordinary inside talk. If you seek a space to make more noise we advise that you visit the cafeteria, while if you want a space for silent and focused work, we advise either bringing a noise-cancelling headset or visiting the quiet study spaces at the faculty. In general, we wish that you use the library the same way you wish for others to use it. We have formulated some library guidelines, feel free to check them out.

Check out our library opening hours as well. Outside the staffed hours, you are welcome to use the unstaffed library with your student/employee card and code. The security camera runs 24/7, and footage is kept in line with the current rules and regulations (page unfortunately not available in English).

What can the librarians help you with?

Try us, and you'll find out!

Library resources and how to find them

Searching for material 

The blue search box at the top of this page, is our seach engine Oria. In Oria you can seach for both printed and electronic material in the University of Bergen Library or other Norwegian libraries. 

Need help using Oria? On this page you can find instructions on searching and requesting documents in Oria. 

Finding books on the shelves

Our collection is arranged in a systematic order by subject, using the L-catalogue (Norwegian only). We do not arrange books by language. The book arrangement system was developed by the university libraries in Bergen and Oslo, and is divided into the three classical groups: Private law, Public law and International law. 

A book's location on the shelves can be found in Oria and is given by letters and numbers (for example L 123 Abc). The shelves in the library give an overview of the topics on that shelf and the spine shows the book's location. 

You can search for a topic in Oria by typing in the L-number in the advanced search box. Here you must choose “Local classification” and write the L-number in the search box (for example L 123). All the literature on this subject will appear.

The standard collection

Shelves 1-26

The standard library collection is marked with white tape. These books are found on shelves 1 to 26. The books can be borrowed for four weeks, and the loan can be renewed if no one is on the reservation list. Books that are currently borrowed by others can be reserved in Oria

For more information, go to our page on borrowing and renewing

The reading list collection

Shelves 50-51

Material from current reading lists is available in the library on a separate shelf, and contains the books that are listed on course reading lists.

This collection is divided into two sections: 

  1. Short-term loan, marked by a grey tape. Shelf 50
    Material from the reading list that can be borrowed for two weeks. The books can be reserved if unavailable, but not renewed. 
     
  2. Not for loan, marked by a grey and a blue tape. Shelf 51
    Material from the reading list that is not for loan, and can only be used in the library. Copying from the books according to the Kopinor licence is allowed. 

The legal source and reference collection

Shelves 38-49, 52-59

The sources of law and reference collection is marked with blue tape. The blue tape means that you can only use the material in the library. The material can be copied according to Kopinor licence.

The collection consists of:

  1. The source collection contains sources of law from different countries.
     
  2. The reference collection contains encyclopedias, handbooks, and dictionaries.  
     
  3. Journals and other periodicals.

"Magasin" - storage unit

The books in the library storage unit are marked "Magasin". These are mostly older books or older editions of the books in the regular collection. The books from the storage unit can be borrowed for four weeks. Contact the staff at the counter, and we will get it for you while you wait.

Electronic books

Electronic books are searchable just like normal books in Oria, or you can choose electronic books in Oria advanced search. Some books are not yet available, but you can find them if you search directly through for example Springer link or Ebrary.

For more information, check out how to find and use eBooks

Journals

Shelves 27-37

The library subscribes to many journals, both in print and electronically.

Printed journals can be found in the library on shelves 27 to 37, labeled "Tidsskrift", and alphabetically shelved by title. Some newer volumes can be found on the journal stand by the library entrance.

Electronic journals can be found in Oria

Articles

On a general note, articles can be found in journals, newspapers, and books.

Articles in journals
Articles can be found in printed or electronic journals. Many of these articles are searchable in Oria. Always remember to write down the name of the journal, year, and volume for future reference. 

Some major Norwegian legal journal databases are Idunn, Juridika and Rettsdata. There are also some individual legal articles in the LovdataPro literature database.

Articles in newspapers
You can search for newspaper articles in PressReader.

Articles in books
To find book articles and Festschrift articles you depend widely on the book’s name. But still, you can find many articles through Oria.

Also check out the book collection: “Norsk juridisk festskriftbibliografi” by Hanne E. Strømø and Halvor Kongshavn.

E-books, journals and other online resources/databases

The University Library has access to an increasing amount of online resources, and there are many ways to find these.

Searching for online material

The blue search box at the top of this page is our seach engine Oria. In Oria you can seach for both printed and electronic material in the University of Bergen Library or other Norwegian libraries. 

Need help using Oria? On this page you can find instructions on searching and requesting documents in Oria. 

Access to articles

On a general note, articles can be found in journals, newspapers, and books.

Articles in journals
Articles can be found in printed or electronic journals. Many of these articles are searchable in Oria. Always remember to write down the name of the journal, year, and volume for future reference. 

Some major Norwegian legal journal databases are Idunn, Juridika and Rettsdata. There are also some individual legal articles in the LovdataPro literature database.

Articles in newspapers
You can search for newspaper articles in PressReader.

Articles in books
To find book articles and Festschrift articles you depend widely on the book’s name. But still, you can find many articles through Oria.

Also check out the book collection: “Norsk juridisk festskriftbibliografi” by Hanne E. Strømø and Halvor Kongshavn.

Translated
acts

A collection of Norwegian acts that have been translated into English. The translations are not official, they are provided for information purposes only. 

Lovdata PRO

A collection of online legal resources. You need an account to search the database, but some Norwegian laws, acts and the Foreign Ministry's treaty registry is available to everyone. For more, see Information in English.

UiB Database
Subscription

A collection of databases that the University of Bergen
subscribes to, e.g. Westlaw, HeinOnline, and Kluwer Competition law. Find legal databases by using the "Law" filter. 

Search and Write 

Online guide and toolbox for academic writing. Contains information about searching, reading, writing, sources, and referencing.

Norwegian
law in foreign
languages

A bibliographic database over Norwegian law written in foreign languages, most of them in English. References to books, articles, and Norwegian sources of law. 

To find the references, click "Group library".

You can now also retrieve references and download them to your own Zotero library and incorporate to your Citation Style e.g. Harvard or Chicago.

The database was created and is still owned and operated by the Law Library at the University of Bergen Library. From 2004 to 2016 Kirsti Lothe Jacobsen was the project leader, then Elen Elvebakk as the editor in charge until February 2024.

Book a librarian

Do you need assistance in your search for information? Then you can book a librarian.

Students and staff at The Faculty of Law can book a librarian for a one-to-one session, where the librarian will help you find relevant information from the many subject databases The University of Bergen Library has access to. 

The session takes place in the library every weekday between 8.30 AM and 3.00 PM. The session usually lasts one hour.

Please give us information on the subject you need assistance with and in which context you will be using it (i.e. master's thesis, paper etc.)

Services for PhD candidates

Shut Up and Write (SUAW): An opportunity for PhD candidates and postdocs to prioritise quiet work, whether it is focused reading or writing. The Library offers a weekly SUAW session every Wednesday from 12 to 15. An e-mail reminder is sent out on Tuesdays.

Data curation: DataverseNO "is a national, generic repository for open research data" (About DataverseNO). The University Library has a reserach data team curating the archive, and are happy to answer queries.

PhD on track: A web resource to help beginning researchers in their process of researching, writing, and publishing. The resource has three main modules: Search and Review; Share and Publish; and Open Science.

Reference management: Students and staff at University of Bergen can use EndNote free of charge. Based on experience from legal researchers, EndNote and other reference management systems may be complicated to use for legal sources, but not impossible. The library offers support on both EndNote and Zotero, and there are also occasional open workshops / seminars.

University of Tromsø has made examples of legal citations in EndNote.

Request a purchase 

The library is constantly adding books to our collection, both printed and electronic. If you have any suggestions for books the library should buy, you can send us a request via e-mail: ubbjur@uib.no. Please let us know if you are interested in a printed or electronic version (if available). New books are displayed by the library entrance.  

IT and printing services

An IT assistant is located in the Student Information Centre at the Faculty. See also IT's information pages.
Telephone: +47 55 58 95 01.

The library has two printers connected to UiBs MyPrint system.