INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED LEGAL STUDIES ARCHIVES

Identity Statement

Reference code(s)	: GB 1697 A.IALS
Held at	: Institute of Advanced Legal Studies   Click here to find out how to view this collection at http://ials.sas.ac.uk/library/archives ›
Full title	: INSTITUTE OF ADVANCED LEGAL STUDIES ARCHIVES
Date(s)	: 1934-2000
Level of description	: Collection (Fonds) View subfonds/series records
Extent	: 18 boxes, 4 volumes, 4 folders, 2 albums, 2 framed portraits
Name of creator(s)	: University of London | School of Advanced Study | Institute of Advanced Legal Studies

Context

Administrative/Biographical history:

In 1932 a Legal Education Committee under the Chairmanship of Lord Atkin was set up to consider the organisation of legal education in England and to make recommendations as to further provision for advanced research in legal studies. The Committee's report in 1934 included a recommendation that an Institute of Advanced Legal Studies be established in London. In 1938 another Committee, chaired by Lord Macmillan, was set up to find a practical means of effecting this recommendation. The Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS) was established in 1946 as part of the University of London. Its aims were "the prosecution and promotion of legal research and the training of graduate students in its principles and methods" (39th Annual Report, 1985/86). Since its inception the scope of the Institute has expanded considerably, with sponsorship of and support for many research projects and the provision of facilities for other research bodies and for conferences, seminars and workshops. The Library provides facilities for academic and research staff and postgraduate research students from universities all over the world, and is one of the world's largest legal research libraries. In 1994 IALS became a major component of the School of Advanced Study. The School was established in September 1994. Its fore runner was the University of London Institutes for Advanced Study. The School includes the Institutes of Advanced Legal Studies, Classical Studies, Commonwealth Studies, Germanic Studies, Historical Research, Latin American Studies, Romance Studies, United States Studies and the Warburg Institute. The School gives the Institutes a collective voice in the governance of the University of London, fosters the development of new activities and collective enterprises among Institutes and generally promotes efficiency and effectiveness in the Institutes' missions of supporting and developing research in the humanities and social sciences, nationally and internationally.

For a detailed description of the establishment and development of the Institute see the IALS First Prospectus, 1948, and Willi Steiner (former IALS Librarian), 'The Establishment of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies of the University of London', IALS Bulletin no. 17, Apr 1994, pp. 6-20.

Content

Scope and content/abstract:

Papers of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (IALS), 1934-2000, consisting of historical files, 1934-1995; correspondence and papers of IALS Directors, 1946-1987; correspondence and papers of the IALS Secretary/Librarian, 1936-1984; Secretary/Librarian's building and maintenance files, 1947-1975; IALS Secretary's new buildings files, 1959-1982; IALS Secretary's estimates files, 1949-1985; accounting records, 1947-1950; IALS Secretaries' policy and general files, 1971-1988; Assistant Librarian's correspondence and papers, 1980-1988; IALS Library sample records, 1960-1995; plans of IALS buildings, 1946-1974; photographs and portraits with related correspondence, [1960-1989]; printed and published papers produced by or concerning IALS, 1989-2000.

Access & Use

Language/scripts of material:
English

System of arrangement:

Arranged under subject matter as given in Scope and Content.

Conditions governing access:

Printed and published material open. Remaining records open 20 years after last date on file unless otherwise specified (some records may be closed for reasons of confidentiality or to protect personal privacy; where this is the case the access conditions are specified in the individual series description).

Conditions governing reproduction:

Copyright declaration form to be completed.

Finding aids:

Detailed catalogue available at the IALS.

Archival Information

Archival history:

A brief overall survey of the Institute's records was undertaken in 1996 as part of the Records of Legal Education Project, a research study conducted with the support of the Institute. A further small-scale project to identify specific archival records of relevance to the compilation of the 50th anniversary history of the Institute was undertaken in 1997. These records were separated from their original context and placed in the Archives for safe keeping. The papers listed below have been identified using the findings of both surveys, but at present consist only of those records identified in the smaller survey and some isolated records deposited in the Archives at various times following the second survey. It proved impossible, primarily due to loss of original file covers and original order, to reorganise these files with a complete degree of certainty in their original order, though every attempt has been made to do so. It is hoped that some at least will be reunited with the remaining files in their original series at a later date.

Immediate source of acquisition:

Allied Materials

Related material:

National Register of Archives: Click here to view NRA record

Publication note:

Description Notes

Archivist's note:
Compiled by Annabel Dodds for the RSLP AIM25 Project.

Rules or conventions:
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Date(s) of descriptions:
Aug 2000; revised Oct 2000.