Summer Updates – What’s New With Westlaw

Westlaw is changing some things about the way it offers its services, and we want you to be in the know about these changes.

First, Westlaw is retiring its Classic version. Westlaw Classic will no longer be available as an option for you to use after today.  WestlawNext will be the only version available as of July 1st. If you’ve never used Westlaw Next, and now need a training to learn how to do so, contact the Reference Office! Our reference librarians are happy to schedule a training with you, to show you the ins and outs of this research platform.

Second, if you’re a student who currently participates in Westlaw’s Rewards Program, you should know that this program is being retired, as well. The time for accumulating new points has closed, but you can still redeem your points until September 30, 2014, when the Rewards Program will officially end. So use your remaining points now!

We’ll be back to post with new summer updates soon.

In the meantime, keep calm and read on.

Legal Research Database Summer Access Guidelines

We know all of our students are doing amazing work this summer at their externships, research assistant projects, summer employment, and summer classes.  We wanted to remind you all of your ability to use your access to subscription legal research databases during the summer, and go over the rules and guidelines for doing so.  Here's how and when you can access these databases during the summer for your research and information needs:

Bloomberg Law:

Students may use their Bloomberg Law accounts as normal throughout the summer. There are no restrictions based on the nature of your summer placement (private firm, government, study abroad, etc.) and no special steps to enable summer access. Please remember that, while you are able to use your Bloomberg Law account, your employer may prefer that you use their organization’s account for billing purposes.

Lexis Advance:

Students may use their Lexis Advance accounts as normal throughout the summer. There are no restrictions based on the nature of your summer placement (private firm, government, study abroad, etc.) and no special steps to enable summer access. Please remember that, while you are able to use your Lexis Advance account, your employer may prefer that you use their organization’s account for billing purposes.

Westlaw:

In order to use your Westlaw account over the summer, you must request permission from West to “extend” your password. Additionally, you may only use your Westlaw account for “Academic Purposes.” This includes, but is not limited to, summer law school classes, Law Review/Journal/Moot Court, projects for professors, and some not for profit/pro bono internships. “Academic Purposes” does not include research conducted for a law firm, corporation or other entity (unrelated to law school) that is paying you to conduct said research or that is passing along the costs of said research to a third party. These are deemed commercial purposes. For detailed information, and to request a password extension, please go to: http://lawschool.westlaw.com/registration/summerextension.aspx


We'll post again soon. In the meantime, keep calm and read on.