This volume serves as the definitive administrative and academic record for the University of Oxford during the 1996-97 academic year. The text functions as a comprehensive directory, compiled by the university administration to document the institutional structure, faculty appointments, and regulatory frameworks governing the institution at that time. It provides a static snapshot of the university's organizational hierarchy and academic offerings for historical and archival purposes.

Researchers and historians frequently utilize this text as a primary source for verifying institutional data and faculty tenure during the late twentieth century. The prose is strictly administrative and dense, serving as a foundational reference tool for those studying the history of higher education in the United Kingdom.