How to Find What Books are Required and/or Recommended for Your Classes
For the most accurate information about the books you need, check the syllabus for your class on bCourses. Your professor may have posted or linked to electronic versions of materials needed for your class. To access bCourses, you must have a Calnet ID and passphrase.
You can also go to Schedule of Classes or the list of course books at the Berkeley Law Bookstore:
- Browse or search for your class.
- Get the class and section number.
- Note the books you will need. On the Schedule of Classes, this information is located at the bottom of the page. Required books are in blue, the other titles are recommended. Required books are usually casebooks.
Ways to Purchase Course Books (print or electronic)
- Go to the Schedule of Classes and copy and paste the links to the books needed for your class into your browser, to find electronic versions of your casebooks.
- Go to the law school’s Bookstore website.
You must have the course and section numbers to use this site. The class number on the Schedule of Classes is the course number.
This website allows you to see the various options for your books: purchase print, rent, or purchase electronic versions. However, these prices may not be the best available, so you may want to shop around. Note: the Bookstore may not have the most accurate information on what books are needed, check the syllabus for your class on bCourses. - Using Google or some other search engine, search for the ISBN number (from the Bookstore site or the Schedule of Classes) or search by the title and author. ISBN numbers look like this: ISBN: 9781543813074. Check the links for Amazon, lawbooks.com, or other vendors, and be sure you are getting the correct edition of the books you need before ordering.
- DISCOUNTS: West Academic is offering a 15% discount on its website for all products. Use this code at checkout: WACALBERK. Aspen Publishing (formerly Wolters Kluwer) is offering a 30% discount for connected eBooks (not the print). No code is necessary.
What Course Materials are available from the Law Library
The Law Library cannot provide access to any electronic casebooks and we do not purchase all casebooks for all law school courses. We may have the print casebook: 1) if the casebook was written by a Berkeley Law faculty member (we will usually have one copy on Course Reserves); or 2) if the instructor is able to provide the library with a copy of the required/recommended casebook. These are the only reasons why we may have some casebooks in our collection. The Law Library may be able to provide print and/or electronic access to other course materials that are required or recommended for your classes.
To find out what course materials are available in print or electronically from the Law Library:
- Search the Spring 2024 Course Reserves module of LawCat (the Law Library’s catalog) by the name of the professor (last name is usually sufficient) or the title of the course. The records will indicate which materials are available in print or electronic format. For more details, check out the How Do I Find Course Reserves.
Sell Your Casebooks
If you wish to sell your casebooks back to the bookstore, see the Berkeley Law Bookstore website for more information.