1. Catherine Funnell
Senior Liaison Librarian(Law)
Middlesex University
February2011
c.funnell@mdx.ac.uk
LAW REFRESHER!THE BASICS

2. GETTING STARTEDFIRST STEPS
1.OK-So you have arrived at the MYATHENS homepage where you can start searching the subscription databases
2.Scrolling down you will see the names of the 3 primary legal databases that we will be looking at today:Heinonline,Lexis Library and Westlaw
3.Click on any title to start your searching
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3. HEINONLINE
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4. HEINONLINE
1. We will start withHeinOnline first
2. Heinonline is essentially used to locate journal articles. It does NOT provide information on Cases(Modern) or Legislation(also known as Acts or Statutes)
3. It does provide access to a series called The English Reportswhich gives you access to Cases pre 1865 only
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5. LAW JOURNAL LIBRARY
1. Well chooseLaw Journal Library to start our searching-You can also use the Title Look Up
feature and type in the publication title if you prefer
2. On the next slide you will see a split screen which says LawJournal Library at the top with the Sidebar saying Citation Navigator-ignore it for now!
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6. LAW JOURNAL LIBRARY
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7. MAIN SEARCH PAGE

1. You can choose to search by using the BROWSE feature-choosing from the A-Z Alphabet -or you can type in the name of the Publication

8. 2. In the example on the slide you can see where the title, MODERN LAW REVIEW, is typed if you choose that option 9. 3.Well click on the letter Mto search for MODERN LAW REVIEW7
10. MAIN SEARCH PAGE
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11. RESULTS
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12. COVERAGE
1. TheCOVERAGE(dates) is 1937-2006
2. You may sometimes find that the current years are not available because of embargos etc. We will usually have these dates available in print format for you to refer to(found in the Law Library-Journals-2nd Floor)
3. If the date of the article you need is 2006 click on that date
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13. TABLE OF CONTENTS
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14. TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. Use theTABLE OF CONTENTSto search for the article you need. By scrolling down you will see all the 2006 issues available to you to search.

2. When you find the title of the article you need click on the page numbers and the articlewill be displayed in the Main Frame

3. To review How to Find a Journal Article have a look at the Heinonline Video on my LAW Libguide(see next slide) http://libguides.mdx.ac.uk/content.php?pid=40639&sid=299127
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15. HEINONLINEJOURNALSTUTORIAL
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16. Article Displayed
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17. WESTLAW
1. Well now move on to the database Westlaw
2. You can use Westlaw to find Legislation(Acts/Statutes), Cases and Journal Articles
3. Lets look at Legislation first
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18. WESTLAW-MAIN PAGE
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19. LEGISLATION
1. When searching for legislation you can use either the BROWSE featurefrom theMain Page if you are uncertain of the exact title of the Act or if you simply wish to browse Acts OR you can search by using the SEARCH Window and then use the Act/SI Title(SI means Statutory Instrument)
2. You can also do a FREE TEXT search but again this is much less precise
Well search for the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act using the Titel in the Search Window
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20. LEGISLATION
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21. RESULTS-WHICH ONE?
1. You will see a number of results on the page. Generally the one you will want - the most recent will be at the top of the list. Click on Arrangement of Act to see the various PROVISIONS displayed
2. It is important to be aware of the ICONS That you may see, eg R=Repealed whereas a Green rectangle with a check mark means the provision is In Force.Hover over the ICON to see what it says.You can always refer to the Westlaw Tutorial for more information about ICONS
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22. RESULTS
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23. ARRANGEMENT OF ACT
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24. PDF OF ACT
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25. WESTLAW-CASES
1. When searching for Cases you can use either the BROWSE feature-which is useful if you know the name of the Law Report series in which the case has been reported-or the SEARCH window.
2. It may be easier to search by using the SEARCH windowwhich allows you to do a search by PARTY NAMES, CITATION or FREE TEXT
3. Well start with a citation search
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26. CITATION
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27. HOW TO READ A CITATION-REMINDER
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Individual cases are arranged collectively in series of Law Reports. To locate a case you need to be able to understand the citation. Here is a sample Citation: Fisher v Bell [1960] 3 W.L.R. 919 The different parts of the Citation are explained below.

Parties contesting the case Fisher v Bell
Year the case was reported 1960
Volume of the law reports in which the case was reported 3
W.L.R. is the abbreviation for the law report series in which the case can be found. The full title is Weekly Law Reports. You will need to know the full title as the law report series are arranged alphabetically by title in the law library.

Page on which the case can be found 919
28. RESULT
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29. UNDERSTANDING THE RESULTS
1.Cases may be reported in more than one law report series. As you can see this case has been reported in a number of law reports.
2. AsWestlaw only indexesspecific law reports you will only get the FULL TEXT for the law report series it indexes. These are indicated by a Citation which is underlined(see the previousexample)
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30. FULL TEXT
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31. PDF OF OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPTS
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32. CASE ANALYSIS
1. With Case Analysis (the Sidebar on the left side of the Main Frame) you can choose what information you want to see displayed in the Main Frame
2. In other words if you only want to see where this case has been reported(other law reports) or possibly any journal articles relating to this case you need only click on either of these to see this information displayed(see example in next slide)
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33. CASE ANALYSIS VIEW(2)
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34. CASE ANALYSIS-WHERE REPORTED
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35. CASE ANALYSIS-DISPLAYING JOURNAL ARTICLES
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36. SEARCH BY PARTY NAMES
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37. RESULT
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38. FULL TEXT AND PDF
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39. WESTLAW-JOURNAL ARTICLES
1. When searching for Journal Articles you can use either the BROWSE feature-which is useful if you simply wish to browse and see which Journals are available in full text
2. It may be easier by using the SEARCH feature which allows you to search by FREE TEXT, AUTHORNAMEor ARTICLE TITLE
3. FREE TEXT is the most useful so well start with that
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40. JOURNAL ARTICLES-FREE TEXT
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41. RESULTS
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42. TEXTUAL CONTEXT
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43. AUTHOR AND FREE TEXT
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44. RESULTS
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45. FULL TEXT
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46. LEXIS LIBRARY
1. Finally, well look atthe database Lexis Library
2. You can use Lexis to find Legislation(Acts/Statutes), Cases and Journal Articles
3. Well look at Legislation first
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47. LEGISLATION
1. When searching for legislation you can use either the QUICK FIND feature or the TAB across the top of the page
2. Well use the Tab to type in the title of the act and the date(s) from which to choosewill pop up in a window below
3. In the example on the following slidewell choose the 2008 Act as that will be the most current and up to date. Be careful with the dates as you may be required to look at an earlier version of an Actand you need to ensure you are looking at the correct one
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48. LEXIS LIBRARY
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49. LEGISLATION
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50. RESULTS
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51. ITEM 3 -PROHIBITIONS...EMBRYOS
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52. FIND OUT MORE WINDOW
1. On the right side of the screen Lexis has recently added very useful ANNOTATIONS-lots of background information as well as the
2. FIND OUT MORE box which allows you to click on on one of the items listed there to gain more useful details, eg related journal articles,related commentary, related cases as well as the all important, IS IT IN FORCE information
3. Dont forget the various icons for printing, sending to email, downloading the legislation
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53. CASES
1. When searching for Casesyou can search by CASE NAMES(Party Names),CITATION or SEARCH TERM(Subject)

2. Well start by doing a CITATIONsearch

54. 3. After typing in the Citation you will see two results(see results slide)Choose the 2nd one as the SOURCE for the 1st is CASESEARCH and only the abstract will be available not the full details as in the 2nd result51
55. CITATION SEARCH
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56. RESULTS
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57. FULL TEXT
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58. SEARCH BY PARTY NAMES
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59. RESULTS
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60. FULL TEXT AND PDF
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61. ICONS PDF AND FIND OUT MORE
1. Similar to Westlaw the Find Out More offers useful related information pertaining to the case, eg related commentary, related cases. Refer to it
2. The PDF icon, when clicked displays the alternative format for this case(see next slide) as it appears in the hard copy of the Queens Bench law report series
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62. PDF
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63. MORE ON ICONS
3. Hovering the cursor over the lilac coloured icon tells you that this case has received a neutral treatment so you may or may not wish to refer to it
4. If you click on the lilac icon more useful information regarding the icons will be displayed(see next slide)
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64. ICONS EXPLAINED
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65. LEXIS-JOURNAL ARTICLES
1. When searching for Journal Articles you cansearch by SEARCH TERM, ARTICLE TITLE, AUTHOR, or ARTICLE CITATION
2. Well search by using the search term box as that is the most comprehensive
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66. JOURNAL ARTICLES-SEARCH TERM
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67. RESULTS
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68. FULL TEXT-CONTEXT
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