Guide to the USC Law Library Collection

The following are descriptions of the library's collections on the 3rd floor. The library's 3rd floor map shows you where these collections are located on this floor.

The front portion of the third floor consists of regular stacks used to house the following collections:

• The Foreign and International Law collection consists of most of the library's foreign, comparative, and international materials. These books are in call number order and arranged by subject (though books pertaining to individual foreign countries are first arranged by country and then by subject).
• American Law Reports (A.L.R.): All of the A.L.R. series (A.L.R. 1st - 6th series plus the A.L.R. Fed. series) are located on the bookshelves along the north wall.

The California Section (CA3) consists of updated secondary sources on California law (also in call number order) followed by updated California primary law materials, beginning with the major statutory and regulatory sets followed by the case reporters and case digests. For up-to-date information on California law, this section of the library is probably the best place to begin your research.

The Federal Section (FED3) consists of updated federal primary law materials, also beginning with the major statutory and regulatory sets followed by the case reporters and digests. The case reporters are organized by level of court, starting with the U.S. Supreme Court reporters and ending with the U.S. District Court reporters. Not included in this section are the more specialized federal primary law sets (e.g., West's Bankruptcy Reporter)

The Law Reviews and Journals collection consists of most of the library's law reviews and journals, organized alphabetically by journal title. Legal periodicals are marked with a PER designation. The recent unbound issues for a particular journal are shelved next to the bound volumes for that journal. If a journal issue is missing, it may be checked out or getting ready to be bound. You should stop by the Service Counter to see if it can be retrieved for you.

The 3rd Floor Stacks is the area that contains the bulk of the library's collection of secondary sources from the past three decades. The books in this section tend to be more scholarly and focused than the more general treatises included in the Closed Reserve and California sections discussed above. They also tend not to be updated on a regular basis. Also included in this section are some specialized case reporters and sets of administrative law decisions. All of the books in this section are arranged by subject (in call number order).