Collections
Special Collections
Indian Law Collection
The Law Library’s Indian Law collection concentrates on U.S. Indian law issues and resources. The Library strives to provide the historical and interdisciplinary information necessary for understanding Indian law issues and seeks to serve faculty, students, practitioners, and New Mexico Native communities. The collection contains numerous sources of tribal materials, such as tribal codes and tribal court reports, as well as a wealth of monographs dealing with the historical and cultural aspects of various tribes. Also included are a complete set of materials on microfiche from the Indian Claims Commission, comprising testimony, briefs, decisions, appellate decisions, and corresponding indexes; online resources, such as the VersusLaw database of tribal court decisions and the U.S. Serial Set digital collection (the equivalent of over 14,000 volumes containing thousands of congressional reports and documents published since 1817, including those related to Indians and Indian affairs); and comparative materials related to the laws of indigenous peoples in other countries. The collection is managed by Law Librarian and Indian Law Selector, Sherri Thomas.
King Archives & Reading Room
In 2001, former New Mexico Gov. Bruce King donated his personal papers to the UNM School of Law to establish an archive for the use of researchers interested in public policy and New Mexico governmental issues and history. King's political career began when he was 29 years old, when he was elected to a seat on the Santa Fe County Commission. Five years later, in 1959, he was elected to the New Mexico House of Representatives, where he served five consecutive terms--three in the top position of Speaker. King served as the State Democratic Chairman from 1968 through 1969, and as president of the State Constitutional Convention held in 1969. In 1970, he ran for governor and won. When he cleaned out his desk for the final time in 1994, he carried the distinction of being the first person to serve the state as governor for three four-year terms. King left behind a legacy that will be hard to match. Using a congenial problem-solving style during his 40-year political career, he helped make New Mexico what it is today--a dynamic and thriving state. The collection consists of more than 900,000 items, including nearly 2,000 photographs. Jacobo Baca, a history doctoral student and Bruce King Fellow, is overseeing the process of indexing the collection, which will be completed in 2008. Once the collection has been indexed, it will available to researchers. An online index of the documents also will be available. For information about collection access, please call the Law Library Reference Desk at 505-277-0935. The Gov. Bruce King Reading Room is also available for researchers and special events.
Land Grant Collection
The Land Grant collection consists of bound, Spanish-language compilations of the laws of Spain and Mexico from the early to mid-1800s, as land in New Mexico was being parceled out. Other scholarly monographs and early documents describe the development, and various aspects, of land grants throughout New Mexico's history. Due to the special nature of this collection, access is limited to Monday-Friday, 9am-6pm.
Latin American Collection
The Latin American collection consists of predominantly Spanish language materials and was originally created to recognize the mutual interests of the United States and Mexico as bordering nations. The collection includes the codes of the Mexican states and the Federal District, as well as learned treatises on Mexican law and doing business in Mexico. Legal materials from other parts of the Latin American world and from Spain are added, when available, to expand the collection's utility as a resource for comparative international legal research.
Law School Archive
The Law Library maintains an archive of Law School materials that document the life of the institution and its teaching, scholarship, and service missions. Included are committee minutes, class lists, class photographs, calendars, lists of courses taught, syllabi, minutes from faculty meetings, annual reports, self-studies, and memorabilia. All scholarship produced by UNMSOL faculty members (books and article reprints) is included in the collection.
New Mexico Primary Legal Materials
In partnership with the New Mexico Supreme Court Law Library and the Desert States Law Library Consortium, the UNMSOL Library actively collects, preserves, indexes, and makes available for research copies of primary legal materials from the New Mexico territorial and statehood eras. With the growing use of electronic resources for legal research, it is important that the legacy print collection of these legal materials be preserved. The Law Library sees this as one of its primary missions in service to the state.
Rare Book Collection
The Rare Book collection consists of several hundred volumes, many of which are irreplaceable editions. Coverage includes classics in English law, New Mexico Territorial laws and agency reports, rare editions on Native American law and culture, early laws of other states, and federal agency reports. Also included are materials on the early New Mexico Bar and UNM School of Law. Due to the special nature of this collection, access is limited to Monday-Friday, 9am-6pm.
Water Law Collection
This donated collection consists of Prof. Denise Fort's water law materials. It includes hundreds of treatises, monographs, serials, and conference proceedings in all areas of water law, with a special emphasis on Western water law. Prof. Fort's donation represents a significant contribution to the Law Library's water law holdings. The collection is gift-plated and is arranged in call number order within the Law Library collection. See the comprehensive list of titles that have been processed to date.
