What Does a Law Librarian Do?

The Law Library of Peking University Law School was established in 1954 (formerly known as the Reference Room of the Department of Law). ^[1]

Law Library of Peking University Law School

The Law Library of Peking University Law School was established in 1954. At the beginning of the establishment, there were 2 staff members and more than 6,000 Chinese and foreign books and periodicals, covering an area of more than 60 square meters. In 1993, the area of the reference room increased to more than 150 square meters, with 5 reading rooms, 9 staff members, and more than 50,000 books and materials. In 1993, the Department of Law and its reference room were moved into the legal school building donated by Mr. Shao Yifu. In 1999, the Faculty of Law was renamed the Faculty of Law, and the reference room was renamed the Law Library. After more than half a century of accumulation and development, in 2011, with the relocation to the Kaiyuan Building of the Law School of Peking University, the Law Library ushered in a new period of development. The building covers an area of more than 4,000 square meters and has reading seats for more than 600 people. There are special research places for doctoral students and visiting scholars, electronic resources and multimedia reading rooms, and small seminar rooms. The library has a collection of more than 150,000 books. In the new era, the Peking University Law Library has become the academic resource center of Peking University Law School integrating teaching, learning and research.
The Law Library has more than 3,500 readers of the college each year. At the same time, it is responsible for the preservation of books and legal information of the national "211" project, and also provides document guarantee and information reference for research institutions affiliated to the School of Law of Peking University Personalized services play an important role in the teaching and research of Peking University Law School. As a legal literature information center with a place in China, the Law Library of Peking University is also committed to providing legal literature services such as data access for all sectors of society.
The development of the Law School of Peking University has witnessed and participated in the development of China's rule of law, legal research and the development of legal education. The legal library has also grown and developed in this historical process. The current legal library has developed into a modern professional library with rich collections and sound services, and is a legal literature information center with a certain influence in China. ^[1]

The library's collections are mainly based on law and supplemented by related disciplines. They emphasize professionalism, academicity, and theory to ensure the system and integrity of legal literature. The library now has more than 150,000 books, including more than 80,000 Chinese books, more than 18,000 foreign books, 351 Chinese periodicals printed, and 110 foreign periodicals printed.

Providing specialized information services for teaching and research in law schools is the top priority of law libraries. The library pays attention to the reasonable allocation of literature resources to form a professional collection structure. The staff in the library can provide more professional legal information reference consulting services.

According to the needs of readers, the library makes full use of network facilities and modern information technology to carry out multi-level and multi-form legal information services in a planned and step-by-step manner. Actively carry out thematic literature retrieval and full-text services, and work closely with the Beijing University Library to provide readers with interlibrary loan services. Actively organize training lectures on legal information retrieval and utilization, and the use of various types of legal databases to help readers improve their retrieval capabilities and cultivate good information quality. Actively change the service concept, from the traditional "reader-to-library service" to the "active push service" method, from the search of resources within the library to the search and screening of legal information from around the world.

As a more influential legal literature information center in China, the Legal Library is also enthusiastic about providing legal literature services to all sectors of society. The library's document information service is open, not only for our school and our readers, but also for law school alumni, domestic research institutions, legislative, judicial, administrative departments and the lawyers, providing information consulting, reference and other personalities Service. ^[1]

Since 1999, the Law Library of Peking University has become one of the UN's data depository in China. It has a comprehensive collection of UN documents, officially published political, legal, and economic-related books, periodicals, and informal publications of the United Nations. Data storage and publicity and utilization.

In June 2006, the UN-Inter Agency Project on Human Trafficking in the Greater Mekong Sub-region of the United Nations Inter-Agency Mekong Subregion Anti-Human Trafficking Project (UNIAP) cooperated with Peking University Law School to establish China's first "China China National Anti-Trafficking in Persons Information Center, which is located in the main building.

The library has established library, periodical and data exchanges and other friendly and cooperative relations with libraries, organizations and institutions of law schools in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and foreign universities, such as the University of Hong Kong Law School Library, the Chinese University of Hong Kong Li Guowei Law Books Museum, Macau Legislative Council, Taiwan Political University, Taiwan University, Harvard University, University of Alberta, Canada, etc. Obtaining books and materials through exchanges and donations is an important channel to enrich the library's collections. ^[1]

With the continuous development of the teaching scale and academic research of the Peking University Law School, higher requirements have been placed on the collection resources and information services of the law library. The development of the law library is limited by the actual funding conditions. There is still a tense relationship between the collection resources and the needs of teaching and research. There is a considerable gap with the libraries of law schools such as Harvard and Yale, especially the need to enrich the collection. Documents and strengthen the construction of electronic resources.
In recent years, alumni and enthusiastic people from all walks of life who have been involved in the construction and growth of the School of Law of Beijing University have provided assistance to the construction of the law library, including pledges for reading seats and donations for books. Peking University Law School sincerely hopes that people from all walks of life who care about and support law education will support the development and construction of the legal library and work together to promote Peking University's law education and legal research and jointly advance Peking University Law School to a world-class goal , And then contribute to China's rule of law! ^[1]

Moving towards the goal of an information-based, open, research-oriented legal professional information resource center, the Peking University Law Library has developed into a domestic first-class and international advanced university law professional library.

Promote the development of collection resources, and promote the integration of service capabilities and service levels with internationalization. Strengthen legal information resources and electronic resources. Plan more comprehensive and high-level professional services, including expanding new reader service models, offering readers' information quality education and other courses.

Actively develop channels to continue serving alumni, and become a spiritual home for alumni at Peking University Law School.

Broaden foreign exchanges and strengthen cooperation with organizations and institutions at home and abroad. ^[1]