Westlaw 50 State Surveys
By Pamela S. Brown
Time-consuming, state-by-state searches
for statutes and laws are a thing of the past with
Westlaw 50 State Surveys. A part of Westlaw StatutesPlus, the new
search tool allows users to easily locate and compare laws and statutes
on specific topics on a state-by-state basis by employing one simplified
online search.
Westlaw 50 State Surveys gives the user
citations to comparable state statutes and links the user to full-text
versions of relevant laws. Users can download and print Portable
Document Format summaries that analyze the differences and similarities
among states. It covers almost every topic imaginable, and Westlaw
constantly adds to its database.
Despite the positive attributes of this
tool, I never have been able to easily wrap my brain around Westlaw in a
comfortable fashion the way I can with LexisNexis. Unfortunately, 50
State Surveys is no exception. Finding the database I want requires me
to take two or three extra steps. Westlaw’s user interface just isn’t
very idiot-friendly.
For example, to find out more about
medical records privacy in various states, I logged on to Westlaw and
chose the “Westlaw” tab. I clicked onto the 50 State Surveys database
and typed my search terms. Westlaw informed me the search would cost
extra money. After I agreed to let my firm pay the fee, Westlaw then
reported that my search terms were too broad and offered to help narrow
them down for me. But even after using its search suggestions, I still
received the “too many results” screen. I let Westlaw give me all the
results, more than 4,000 of them. Obviously, many of the 4,000 results
were not relevant. Just to compare, I searched the National Conference
of State Legislatures Web site (www.ncsl.org)
and received 31 relevant results, for free.
Westlaw offers online tutorials at
http://west.thomson.com/westlaw/training/online. The training is in
the second grouping on the page under “Westlaw StatutesPlus.” New users
also can arrange for training with their Westlaw representative. Unless
you are an experienced Westlaw user, I recommend training.
After a brief introduction, those who
are experienced Westlaw users and understand the user interface should
not have a problem using 50 State Surveys. In fact, they probably will
wonder why it took Westlaw so long to come up with this idea. The online
tool reduces research time, offers easy-to-understand analyses of laws
and statutes, and uncovers results users probably would not find without
it. For those of us who are Westlaw-challenged, there always is
training, experimentation and hands-on learning — or going with a less
expensive option.
Westlaw 50 State
Surveys |
Thomson West • (800) 762-5272 •
www.west.thomson.com •
Cost varies depending on Westlaw pricing contract •
Internet Explorer; Microsoft Windows 2000 or higher
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Pros: Offers convenient, one-stop
shopping for comparison of laws, statutes, etc., from all 50 states.
Cons:
Somewhat outdated Westlaw
interface often requires more work (i.e., keystrokes, screens) than
necessary. It’s no problem for regular Westlaw users, but there is a
learning curve for those with less experience.
Verdict:
I recommend this for experienced Westlaw users who can afford
the somewhat expensive Westlaw subscription costs. However, for those
who are not comfortable using Westlaw or are on a budget, the same
information can be found for free with a little more work by searching
the Web.
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