WestlawNext

Thanks to Michael, I have a WestlawNext trial password that expires tomorrow.  I have been experimenting with the new platform and find it to be much cleaner and easier to use than the old one. TRL (Thompson Reuters Legal) is attempting to get away from the old “choose a database, formulate a search” method, and sophisticated search algorithms are meant to facilitate Google-style searching. This seems to work well for simple searches: a search for Roe v. Wade retrieves only one case instead of the five that used to appear on WL Academic. But most librarians will want to use Boolean search, which is still available on WestlawNext. Unfortunately, it’s not easy to find, and the instructions for field searching (a search by judge’s name, for example) have not yet been included. Many law firm librarians are concerned about the pricing. Both time-based and transactional billing are available, but transactional searches will include a charge for the search and a new “view” charge per document opened. Additional charges apply for printing and emailing documents. Documents viewed and stored to a folder, however, may be retrieved later at no additional charge. Please let me know by tomorrow if you would like to see WestlawNext.