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LARW III Drafting for the General Practitioner - Research Guide

Research guide created for Prof. Kiser's LARW III Drafting course

Online Databases v. Books

Why are we still talking about researching in books?

  • Organization of legal information was established before legal information transitioned to online, full-text searchable databases
  • Many finding aids created to ease navigation in print are just as useful when searching online.
    • Table of Contents
    • Indexes
  • Some publications are only available in print

Which Database Should You Choose?

Lexis v. Westlaw v. Bloomberg - What's the difference?

  • These commercial databases provide unique secondary source publications
  • For example, you will not find Dorsaneo's Texas Litigation Guide on Westlaw because it is a Lexis Publication. Alternatively, you will not find Texas Practice Series on Lexis because it is a Westlaw Publication

Other company's like O'Connor's offer their own database that require individual user subscriptions

General Database Searching Tips

Before you begin searching in a database, you should always familiarize yourself with the database.

Look for a "help" link. This link could say "About," "Advanced Search," or appear as a question mark or "i" icon. This page will tell you important information such as:

  • database scope (what is included in the database)
  • advanced search tips and required syntax