Wellesley College Library

Comparison of LexisNexis Academic Legal Research WC and Westlaw Campus WC

LexisNexis Academic Legal Research and Westlaw Campus both provide comprehensive coverage of federal and state court cases, current federal and state code, current federal regulations, and law review articles. Westlaw Campus also contains state statutes. There are important differences in how you search and what you do with the results you get. . Use this chart to see the differences.

 
LexisNexis Academic Legal
Westlaw Campus
Searching    
   Searching options

natural language and terms and connectors

Basic and Advanced
   Connectors
(connecting my search terms together) 		and, or, and not, w/n, w/sent, w/para, atl[no.]
&, [space], %, /n, /s, /p Use the Help tab and Searching for Legal Documents for more
  Wildcards
(substituting characters for letters)
! expands root word, * substitutes a character ! expands root word, * substitutes a character
   Field Searching
(where I search in the document)		 Use "Search Within Document Sections" varies by source, see Help tab
Searching federal cases search all court levels at once, or each level separately search all court levels at once
Searching state cases, state statutes, state code search federal and state together, all states highest courts, all states all courts, or each state individually search all states together for cases and statutes; state code = individual state only
   Search by citation yes yes
   Search by case name yes yes
   Live Linking yes (doesn't always work) yes
   Printing/Downloading

just follow the print button or email or download search results

 does not work with pop-up blockers, you must disable your pop-up blocker first
use the email/download button on the bottom bar; use the properties button to change file format
Content - Federal    
   US Supreme Court Briefs briefs since 1979, search briefs separately in Federal and State Cases Supreme Court and Appellate Court briefs - links appear when the case is retrieved
   Case Digests no Yes, use Keysearch
   Case Verification all cases (Shepard's) all cases, statutes and regulations (keycite)
   United States Code search as [title #] uscs sec [section #] search as [title #] USCA [section #]
Content - State state court cases, statutes and code state court cases, statutes and code
Content - International    
   European Union Law yes yes
   Other International U.K., Australia, Ireland, Mexico, Canada, South Africa, Singapore, Malaysia limited U.K.
Other Content    
   Legal News yes no
   Law Reviews FT of 650+ journals since late 1980's. Titles in library catalog. FT of 900+ journals since late 1980's
can search law reviews by state. Titles NOT in library catalog.
   Legal Encyclopedias no American Jurisprudence
American Law Reports
   Reference Content International Legal Materials, some treaties International Legal Materials, legal guides, advice for pre-law

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