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. We are a public academic library, and part of the scientific and educational services and support at the University of Bergen.

Image of newly remodeled library, with bookshelves and furniture.

Photo:

Maria Refsdal

Main content

The library is open!

We can finally welcome both students and staff back to our new, lovely library space! Some construction work remains, but this will primarily be done during the morning hours.

Check out our library opening hours. Outside the staffed hours, you are welcome to use the unstaffed library with your access 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).

The remodeling in the library is not just an esthetical change. It is also a part of a larger mission of highlighting the pedagocial function of the library, as an arena for meeting up and discussing, as well as for dissimination. Many of our new work 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 work, we advice either bringing a noise cancelling headset or visiting the quiet study spaces at the faculty.

Literature and alignment

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.
The books’ alignment	Our collection is arranged in a systematic order by subject, using the L-catalog (norwegian only). We do not arrange books by language. The alignment form was developed by the university libraries in Bergen and Oslo, and is divided into the three classical groups of Private law, Public law and International law. A book's alignment 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 alignment. 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 regular collection	The regular library collection is marked with white tape. The books can be borrowed for four weeks, and can be renewed if no one is on the reservation list. Unavailable books can be reserved in Oria. Click here for more information on borrowing and renewing.
The reading list collection	Material from the reading list is available in the library on a separate shelf, and contains the books that are listed on the course reading list. The collection is divided into two sections: Short-term loan, marked by a grey tape. Material from the reading list that can be borrowed for two weeks. The books can be reserved if unavailable, but not renewed. Not for loan, marked by a grey and a blue tape. 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 source and reference collection	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: The source collection contains sources of law from different countries. The reference collection contains encyclopedias, handbooks, and dictionaries. Journals and other periodicals.
"Magasin" - storage unit	The books in the library's 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 advances search. Some books are not yet available, but you can find them if you search directly through Springer link or Ebrary. For more information, check out how to find and use eBooks.
Journals	The library subscribes to many journals, both in print and electronically. Printed journals can be found in the library on the shelves labeled "Tidsskrift", alphabetically aligned by title. The latest annual volume is located by the seating area in the middle of the library. Electronic journals can be found in Oria.
Articles	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 and Rettsdata. There are also some individual legal articles in LovdataPro’s 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.

Electronic resources

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, now Elen Elvebakk is the editor in charge.
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. It can be sorted by topics, e.g. "Law".
Search and Write	Online guide and toolbox for academic writing. Contains information about searching, reading, writing, sources, and referencing.
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.

Open access to scientific articles in journals

Norwegian research institutions negotiated several journal access and publishing deals with academic publishers in 2019. In consequence, some journals have not been renewed.

This is what you can do if you need articles in journals that we can no longer access:

Download plug-ins to the web browser to find open-access articles:

Tools like Unpaywall and Open Access Button make it easy to find open access versions of articles in the web browser. Read more about these services here.
UiB can access archives

UiB still has access to the archives of numerous journals up until 2018. Here is a searchable table with an overview of the journals UiB has archive access to. In these journals, you can search like before, for example in Google and Oria, and download articles from ScienceDirect.
Order the article

If you find an article UiB does not have access to in Oria, you will be given an opportunity to order the article. You will receive the article as a pdf in your email, no more than 8 hours, but normally 2 hours, after the purchase. UiB will cover your expenses.
Contact the author or ask international colleagues

It is not unusual to contact an author and request him or her to send their article. It is also common for researchers to share copies of an article in social networks.
Contact your library

The University of Bergen Library is ready to help. Feel free to contact us with any inquiries.

For more information on the publishing deals between the University of Bergen and major publishers, see the University of Bergen Library overview page with information on open access publishing deals.

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.)

Request a purchase

The library is constantly adding books to our collection. 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.