Locating Materials in the Library
This guide will help you locate items in the Law Library using information from HOLLIS Catalog.
This guide is not comprehensive. It does not cover every exception to the basic arrangement of the collection. Note that only about 35% of the Library's collection is available in the open stacks; the rest is in storage. The Library can usually retrieve items in storage in one business day. Please consult Reference or Circulation at any time for assistance locating an item.
HOLLIS Catalog Sample Record
After Law School you will see either a call number or locator. Locators are notations before call numbers like ILS, Red Set, Reserve.
If there is a blank space after a law school location, please consult Reference for assistance.
List of Locators and Other Notations in HOLLIS Catalog
| Notation after Law School Begins with ... | Location In Lewis or Langdell Hall... |
| Art | Special Collections, Langdell 4 South |
| Art Ref | Special Collections, Langdell 4 South |
| A/V | Microforms, Langdell 221 North |
| Casual Reading | Langdell 2 South (Entry Level Lounge) |
| Computer Lab | Langdell 233 North |
| Faculty | Consult Circulation |
| Harvard Depository | Storage, consult Circulation |
| ILS (except ILS KBP in Langdell 1N) | ILS (see call number list for specific level) |
| ILS RR | ILS2 (Entry Level) |
| ILS RefDesk | ILS2, Reference Desk |
| ILS V/F | ILS2 , Reference Desk |
| IslamicRef | Langdell 1 North |
| Mic | Microforms, Langdell 221North |
| MicRef | Microforms, Langdell 221 North |
| MSS or MSSRef | Special Collections, Langdell 4 South |
| Office | Consult Circulation |
| Ordered Received | Request from Circulation (in-person or use this form) |
| Rare | Special Collections, Langdell 4 South |
| Red Set | Special Collections, Langdell 4 South |
| Ref or Reference | Langdell 4 Reference Area |
| RefDesk | Langdell 4 Reference Desk |
| Reserve | Langdell Circulation desk |
| Spec Coll Ref or Special Collections Ref | Special Collections, Langdell 4 South |
| Storage or S | Consult Circulation |
| TechServ | Consult Circulation |
| Unclassed | Consult Circulation |
| V/F | Langdell 4 Reference Desk |
List of Call Number Locations
Note on Call Numbers Beginning with Country Abbreviations:
If your call number begins with an abbreviation of France, Germany,
Portugal, or any Latin American country name, the item will be
in ILS Level 1, providing it is not in storage. If the country
abbreviation stands for Australia, Canada, Ireland, United States or
United Kingdom, consult Langdell Reference. If the call number
begins with an abbreviation of any other country, it will be in ILS
Basement, again providing it is not in storage.
Call Number Systems in the Law School Library
The Harvard Law School Library arranges materials in three distinct classification schemes. The Moody System, developed at the Harvard Law School Library, arranges materials by jurisdiction and numerically designated subject matter. The Moody system was used for everything until 1982. At that point, the Anglo American collection in Langdell Hall was converted into the Library of Congress (LC) system, which arranges materials alphanumerically by subject. The Anglo American collection consists of the law of Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The Library continues to classify materials of all other jurisdictions with the Moody System. The third classification scheme, Olivart, originated with a large collection on international law acquired from the Marquis de Olivart of Spain. Olivart classes materials numerically by subject. The Library generally classes new materials on international and comparative law in LC.
| Call Number Systems HLSL | Description | Example | Used for |
| Library of Congress | 1-3 letters then numbers | KF 387.F74 | Law of Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, U.S. and U.K, General Law, International Law, Comparative Law, and Non-law |
| Moody | country abbreviation then numbers | THA 203 F84 |
Law of all other jurisdictions and collections on Ancient, Comparative, Roman, Moslem, and Canon Law |
| Olivart | begins with numbers | 182b 1602 |
International Law |
Materials In Storage Not Indicated in HOLLIS Catalog
If an item is in storage, you will see a notation in HOLLIS Catalog of "Harvard Depository" or "Storage" near the call number. Although there is no indication in HOLLIS Catalog, the following groups of materials are in storage:
- Materials classed in Olivart (call numbers are mostly numbers) published 1851-1945;
- Materials classed in Moody (call numbers begin with a country abbreviation) published between 1851-1961;
- Materials classed in Moody with call numbers beginning with ANCIENT, CANON, COMP, ROMAN printed after 1851, unless they're in the ILS Reading Room or ILS Reference Collection (designated by "ILS RR" or "ILS Ref" in HOLLIS Catalog);
- Materials classed in Moody from a sub-jurisdiction, such as states or provinces within a country, of any time period.;
- Materials classed in Moody published before 1851 are in Special Collections, but this is not indicated in HOLLIS Catalog.
Langdell Collection Shelving Arrangement
| Materials | Call Numbers | Location |
| Law of the United States | KF | Langdell 4 |
| Law of U.S. States | KFA-KFZ | Langdell 3 South |
| Law of U.S. Cities | KFX | Langdell 3 South |
| Tribal Law | KF 8228 | Langdell 4 North |
| Law of Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands | KGV, KGZ | Langdell 3 South |
| General Non-Legal Materials | A-JV, L-Z (except BP, KBP) | Langdell 1 North |
| Law Reviews Published 1980 & later | K1-K30 | Langdell 2 North |
| Law Reviews Published before 1980 | K1-K30 | Harvard Depository |
| General Law | K31-K9999 | Langdell Basement |
| Islamic Law | BP, KBP, MOSLEM, and Islamic Ref | Langdell 1 North |
| Law of the United Kingdom | KD and UK 905 | Langdell Basement |
| Law of Ireland | KDK | Langdell Basement |
| Law of Canada | KE | Langdell Basement |
| Law of Australia | KU | Langdell Basement |
| Law of New Zealand | KUQ | Langdell Basement |
| Law of Selected Pacific Islands (i.e., American Samoa, Guam) |
KV-KW | Langdell Basement |
International Legal Studies (ILS) Collection Shelving Arrangement
ILS generally holds materials published in the last 15 years in the stacks, with some exceptions for primary law. Items published earlier are usually in storage (although the HOLLIS Catalog record may not always indicate this.) Please see Circulation for assistance if your item is not on the shelf.
| Materials | Call Numbers | Location |
| International and Comparative Law | ILS A-K | ILS 4 |
| International and Comparative Law | ILS KA-Z | ILS 3 |
| Reference Materials, e.g. Looseleafs, Treaty Collections. | ILS RR, ILS Ref | ILS 2, ILS Reading Rm |
Foreign Law (current 15 years with some
exceptions), |
FRA, GER, SPA, POR, and Latin American Countries | ILS 1 |
| Foreign Law (current 15 years with some
exceptions) all other jurisdictions except U.S., U.K., Can., Ire., N.Z. and Australia. |
Country abbreviations for all other jurisdictions | ILS Basement |
Materials in Special Collections
The Special Collections Department of the Library is responsible for materials that require careful handling because of their rarity, fragility, monetary worth, or special research value.
Selective, abbreviated description of Special Collections holdings:
| Material | Description |
| Rare Books | Books printed before 1851. (Collection includes books printed as early as 1455.) |
| Rare Legal Collections | Pre-Soviet Russian Law (pre-1918 Revolution), Chinese Law printed before 1961 |
| Manuscripts | Personal papers of law professors and prominent members of
the bench and bar. Collections of documents associated with specific court cases, i.e. World War II war crimes trials. |
| The Red Set | Publications by Law School faculty, selected
HLS student papers, and items published by the Harvard Law School and its affiliates |
| HLS Art Collection | Portraits and sculptures of lawyers and judges, prints and photographs with legal themes. |
Call Number Ranges for Major U.S. Law Subjects
The following is a simplified, abridged breakdown of the Library of Congress Classification for "KF", the law of the United States. Materials with KF call numbers are located in the Reading Room of Langdell Hall, Level 4.
| Subject | Call Number Range |
| Administrative Law | KF 5401-5425 |
| Admiralty | KF 1096-1137 |
| Antitrust and Trade Regulation | KF 1601-1666 |
| Art Law | KF 4288-4305 |
| Banks and Banking | KF 966-1032 |
| Bankruptcy | KF 1501-1548 |
| Business Law | KF 1355-1480 |
| Children and Law | KF 479, 540-550 |
| Civil Procedure-Federal | KF 8810-9075 |
| Commercial Transactions | KF 871-1241 |
| Communications Law | KF 2761-2849 |
| Conflict of Laws | KF 410-418 |
| Constitutional Law | KF 4501-5130 |
| Contracts | KF 801-869 |
| Copyright | KF 2986-3086 |
| Corporations | KF 1384-1480 |
| Criminal Law | KF 9201-9479 |
| Criminal Procedure | KF 9601-9797 |
| Education | KF 4102-4258 |
| Environmental Law | KF 3775-3813 |
| Equity | KF 398-400 |
| Estate Planning | KF 746-750 |
| Ethics, Professional Responsibility | KF 305-310 |
| Evidence | KF 8931-8968 |
| Family Law | KF 501-553 |
| Federal Courts | KF 8700-8807 |
| Immigration | KF 4801-4848 |
| Intellectual Property | KF 2971-3192 |
| Labor Law | KF 3300-3580 |
| Legal History | KF 350-374 |
| Legal Profession | KF 297-334 |
| Legal Research and Writing | KF 240-251 |
| Local Government | KF 5300-5332 |
| Military Law | KF 7201-7755 |
| Native American Law | KF 8228 |
| Negligence | KF 1280-1290 |
| Oil Gas and Mining | KF 1801-1873 |
| Patents, Trademarks | KF 3091-3192 |
| Real Property | KF 560-698 |
| Secured Transactions | KF 1046-1062 |
| Securities Regulations | KF 1428-1457, KF 1066-1083 |
| Taxation | KF 6271-6645 |
| Torts | KF 1246-1327 |
| Trade Regulation | KF 1601-1666 |
| Uniform Commercial Code | KF 879-885 |
| Wills and Trusts | KF 726-780 |
Compiled by Deanna Barmakian, last updated by Martin Hollick, June 2007.