Joseph D. Jamail Center for Legal Research: Tarlton Law Library
The Tarlton Law Library supports the research and curricular needs of the faculty and students of the School of Law, as well as the research needs of the University community, members of the bar, and the public. The highly qualified library staff provide reference services, offer individual and group instruction, and maintain and organize the collection for efficient use.
With more than a million volumes, the Tarlton Law Library is one of the largest academic law libraries in the country. In addition to a comprehensive collection of primary and secondary legal materials, the library has a broad interdisciplinary collection from the social sciences and humanities. Special collections include extensive foreign and international law resources, more than a million pieces of microforms, the papers of former United States Supreme Court Justice Tom Clark, feature films and fiction related to law and popular culture, and, in the library’s Gavel Archive, a special collection of recent winners of the American Bar Association’s prestigious Silver Gavel Award. The library is a depository for United States, European Union, and Canadian government documents. The library’s collection of rare and antiquarian law books exceeds ten thousand volumes and includes noted collections of early legal dictionaries, Texas law, and the works of John Selden.
In addition to printed matter, the library offers law students access to Lexis and Westlaw, the major online computer-assisted legal research services. Computing facilities are available for law student use, as are group study rooms. The Tarlton Law Library Web site offers a number of online legal research resources and finding aids, including digital collections highlighting Texas legal history and law school traditions.
As a member of the Online Computer Library Center, the library contributes data to WorldCat, the world's largest bibliographic database. Through this resource, the library has access to the collections of other major research libraries throughout the world. The library’s own online public access catalog, TALLONS , provides immediate access to the collection, both print and online, including information on location and circulation status. Links to thousands of online resources are available through the catalog.
More than six hundred paintings, other objets d’art, prints, documents, antique quilts, rugs, and pieces of furniture from the Hyder Collection enhance the ambience of the library and create a culturally enriching environment for library patrons and staff members.
The library’s facilities and information services are open to the University community and to visitors. Non-University borrowers may purchase a guest borrower card valid for one year from date of issue. Fees are waived for visitors with valid TexShare cards. Primary source materials, digests, looseleaf binders, microforms, periodicals, and reference resources generally do not circulate outside the library.