Comparison of Research Speed and Accuracy Using Westlaw Classic and WestlawNext

In 2010, Thomson Reuters released WestlawNext powered by WestSearch, a novel and proprietary algorithm. WestlawNext represents a new approach to legal research platform design. This article empirically examines the differences in search results using Westlaw Classic and WestlawNext by testing law students and librarians in both systems. Results demonstrate that researchers complete everyday searches faster and more accurately using WestlawNext. However, WestSearch's unique features and Thomson Reuters' failure to explain the function behind the WestlawNext main search bar and the WestSearch algorithm has limited researchers' ability to understand and effectively use WestlawNext. This lack of understanding has significant implications for instruction.     

Specialized Legal Research Courses: The Next Generation of Advanced Legal Research

This article examines the current state of Advanced Legal Research (ALR) courses and the emergence of Specialized Legal Research (SLR) courses. It surveys the curriculum of all ABA-accredited law schools and provides updated statistics of ALR course offerings. It also identifies for the first time (1) the law schools currently offering SLR courses, (2) the most popular SLR course topics, and (3) the role of the law library in determining whether to implement a SLR course. The results of this survey will hopefully educate law schools about the trends and variety of legal research course offerings.     

Research Analysis and Planning: The Undervalued Skill in Legal Research Instruction

This article describes a method of research analysis and planning for legal problems. It introduces the framework of research plan, log, and product and provides a detailed research plan and log that students can use as a template for learning research. The article suggests how to teach the method in legal research classes, shares some of the author's experiences in teaching the method, and addresses some possible criticisms of this approach.     

A Methodical Approach to Legal Research: The Legal Research Plan,an Essential Tool for Today's Law Student and New Attorney

This article lays out an approach to teaching legal research through an examination of historical and contemporary approaches to legal research and research instruction. It discusses creating a research plan and reviews the most commonly used legal research texts. It concludes with sample research assignments and assessment tools.     

The Case for Curation: The Relevance of Digest and Citator Results in Westlaw and Lexis

Summary

This article addresses pricing questions raised by the 1996 acquisition of West Publishing Company by The Thomson Corporation by considering what happened to Lawyer's Co-op/Bancroft-Whitney treatise titles transferred to CB-C following the Thomson acquisition of Lawyer's Co-op. Although the sample of titles examined is small, it appears that price increases have been well above increases in the legal publications industry generally, and this suggests the need to monitor West titles carefully.     

An Old Problem Needs a New Solution: Incorporating Librarian-Led Legal Research Instruction into Directed Research

This article discusses how Rutgers School of Law–Camden implemented a new pilot program for directed research that was designed to help improve students’ research and writing skills through mandatory research and writing instruction.     

The Future of Presidential Libraries: Assessing Alternative Models from a Legal Research Perspective

Presidential libraries—each a unique combination of archival depository and historical museum—offer visitors an invaluable opportunity to examine millions of papers, records, and artifacts from the administrations of our chief executives. In response to a congressional directive to consider means of reducing costs and improving the preservation of and access to presidential records, the National Archives and Records Administration has proposed five alternatives to the current presidential library system. This article analyzes these alternative models from the perspective of the legal research community. After discussing the role of presidential libraries in legal research, this article considers the merits of each model and concludes that a central archival depository would best meet the information needs of legal researchers.     

Legal Research Boot Camp: One Approach to Meeting the Research Needs of Law Students

This article describes the legal research boot camp offered at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law. It is an intensive, one-week course offered the first week of the summer break to prepare students for their summer clerkships. It is also a vehicle to teach law librarianship students how to teach legal research.     

Taking Time for Legal Research Instruction at the Reference Desk

Summary

This article asks whether the law governing public access to judicial opinions mandates citation reform. An overview of the citation reform issue is provided followed by a discussion of various legal theories that may support the need for citation reform. The author includes considerations of the First Amendment, Substantive and Procedural Due Process, Equal Protection, The Freedom of Information Act and Copyright Law as well as state statutory provisions and the general common law.     

Curricular Changes in Legal Research Instruction: An Empirical Study

This article examines components of curricular design of a legal research class as impacting student performance. Expertise of instructor and use of the inverted, or flipped, classroom are specifically explored. Eight years of exam performance on an oral legal research midterm is used to measure student performance and success of various components of curricular design.     

A Research Agenda for Cataloging: The CCQ Editorial Board Responds to the Year of Cataloging Research

The cataloging and classification community was called to highlight 2010 as “The Year of Cataloging Research,” and specifically was challenged to generate research ideas, conduct research, and generally promote the development of new research in cataloging. Cataloging & Classification Quarterly has become the most influential journal of research in cataloging and classification since its inception in 1981. The idea behind the research reported here was to give the CCQ editorial board an opportunity to present its point of view about research for cataloging. A Delphi study was conducted in three stages during the 2009–2010 academic year. Members were asked to define the key terms “cataloging,” “evidence,” and “research,” and to develop a research agenda in cataloging. The results reveal a basic core definition of cataloging perceived as a dynamic, active process at the core of information retrieval. An eight point research agenda emerges that is forward-looking and embraces change, along with top-ranked calls for new empirical evidence about catalogs, cataloging, and catalog users.     

May It Please the Court: Law Students and Legal Research Instruction in Prison Law Libraries

According to the administrative office of the U.S. Courts, a significant part of the present docket of federal district courts consists of prisoner litigation. This category of litigation, composed largely of habeas corpus petitions, civil rights suits, and suits related to prison conditions, is often pressed by prisoners whose only legal assistance is the resources and materials available in their prison law library. Although prisoner litigation is an essential means of ensuring that our prisons and criminal justice systems operate within the confines of the U.S. Constitution, these often poorly researched and poorly written lawsuits also present special challenges to the federal courts tasked with processing them. This article explores how establishing programs that involve law students in teaching legal research in prison law libraries could help to both ameliorate the burdens that prisoner litigation places on the federal court system and improve prison law libraries’ ability to provide prisoners with meaningful access to the courts. The article begins by discussing the history of prisoner litigation in federal courts and describes four models of legal research instruction and assistance that have been employed in prisons. Based on the lessons learned from these efforts, the article presents a proposal for a prison legal research clinic that could be established by interested law schools and their librarians, and discusses the benefits to law students, prisoners, and the courts that such a program has the potential to deliver.     

Playing to Their Passion: A Legal Research Course that Resonates with Law Students

The first year of law school is chock-full of new experiences. Students can become overwhelmed in the face of so much change that they forget why they chose law school as a career path. They often lose sight of their end goal and need a touchstone to ground them back to their initial interests. Legal Research is the ideal first-year class to connect the acquisition of legal skills with interesting topics in a way that encourages students’ engagement in their present and future learning. By adding a student-selected subject context to their class, Legal Research instructors can incorporate contextualized learning and active learning techniques that improve student engagement and student learning. This article discusses the transformation of a generic, required, first-year legal research course into one that divides into four small (18–20 students) classes, each with one of four topics: patent, trademark and copyright, traditional practice, and social justice. In addition, it envisions future innovations to improve student engagement and student learning.     

行动研究：图书情报工作研究的新范式

针对目前图书情报工作研究中理论与实践脱节、理论研究者与实际工作者相分离的状况,有必要引入行动研究这种新的研究方法。图书情报工作行动研究,可以激发图书情报从业人员的主体性与创新精神,促进理论研究与实际工作的结合,改进图书情报工作的实际效果,优化服务职能,是现代图书情报从业人员职业发展的重要方式。     

The Pedagogical Value of an Integrated Approach to Legal Research Instruction: Overcoming Student Resistance to the Use of Print Sources and Striking a Balance That Instills an Appreciation of the Strengths and Weaknesses of Both Print and Online Sources

The ABA Legal Technology Survey Reports from 2006 to 2012 reported that, on average, 51% of attorneys “regularly” used print materials. Given the propensity of law students to default to online research, this article describes the results of a three-year longitudinal study of an integrated approach to teaching first-year legal research. This approach required students conduct legal research tasks both online and in print sources, and to evaluate their experience. The objective of this approach was to transform the legal research experience from a “treasure hunt” into a much higher level of engagement based on Benjamin Bloom's Taxonomy of Learning.     

Standing at the Gates: A New Law Librarian Wonders About the Future Role of the Profession in Legal Research Education

ABSTRACT

There have long been complaints about the legal research skills of law school students and recent graduates. In this article the author focuses on the period between the release of two important reports on legal education, the MacCrate Report in 1992 and the Carnegie Report in 2007, examining how law librarians and other professionals involved were engaged in responding to the problem. The author concludes that if law librarians want to be involved more fully in legal research education, some changes or reexamination of our professional culture and positions may be necessary.