Most of your core law textbooks are not available to the Library as e-books. The books in these sections show you a selection of texts that you can access from off-campus. They may have a different way of presenting the key issues in their areas but nevertheless are a convenient way of starting your independent reading if you cannot get on to campus to use the Library.
If you are looking for ideas for your dissertation, or just want to delve deeper into some of the issues at play in your assignments for key modules, the Great Debates series from Bloomsbury is a useful first stop. These accessible texts help break down thorny legal problems and point to key resources to get you thinking about and developing your own arguments and solutions.
For books and e-books Library Search will:
Library Search can also allow you to search for books outside of the Birmingham Newman Library collection and order an inter-library loan.
A 'shelfmark' or 'call number' is a number that tells you where a book an be found in the library. Our main lending collection is on Level 2. Each row of shelves has a poster on the end that tells you what shelfmarks can be found there.
You can use the table on this page to see the general areas that main topics in your subject are shelved. Sometimes, casually browsing the shelves can turn up some great resources!
When you find a book in Library Search, above the shelfmark it will tell you which collection it is in, and where to find it in the library. The different collections and locations are:
| Main subject | Shelfmark |
|---|---|
| Law | 340-349 |
| Policing and Criminology | 363-364 |
| Legal skills (including Mooting) | 340.0711 |
| EU Law | 341.2422 |
| Human Rights Law | 341.48 |
| Constitutional / Administrative Law | 342.41 |
| Public Law | 342.41 |
| Employment law | 344.01 |
| Medical law | 344.041 |
| Criminal Law | 345.42 |
| Contract Law | 346.2402 |
| Company Law | 346.41066 |
| Family law | 346.42015 |
| Tort Law | 346.4203 |
| Equity & Trusts | 346.4204 |
| Land Law | 346.42043 |
| Evidence | 347.4206 |
| English Legal System | 349.42 |
Last reviewed: 17 October 2025
