[LAW-LIB:59353] Re: Persistent/Stable URLs for Individual Publications/Sources in WESTLAW CAMPUS RESEARCH-- also question about initial terms of service screen

From: David Whelan (davidpwhelan@gmail.com)
Date: Thu Jun 25 2009 - 06:38:07 PDT

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    Hi, Adrienne! Welcome to the list!

    You can make deep links into both Westlaw and LexisNexis. In some
    cases, there are Web-based forms that help you to develop the links.
    Here are some for a variety of jurisdictions:

    -Westlaw: link to a US/UK/AU/Canadian database:
    http://intranetsolutions.westlaw.com/customize/wizards/Search/USDBBas.wl
    -Westlaw: link to a US/UK/AU/Canadian document:
    http://integrationsolutions.westlaw.com/customize/wizards/Find/USFindAdv.wl

    -LexisNexis Intranet Tools:
    http://w3.lexis.com/hottopics/intranetsolutions/ (requires password)

    Here's a list of tools at the Westlaw Law Schools site:
    http://lawschool.westlaw.com/customize/default.wl?subpage=3&mainpage=3.
     I'm not sure if this works if you're not at a law school.

    Sometimes you need to find someone at the company who can give you the
    specifics on building the links. For example, to build a deep link to
    a LexisNexis Canada document, you have to take a URL like this:

          http://www.lexisnexis.com/ca/legal/api/version1/sf?sfi=[formID
    value]&csi=[csi value]

    and identify the formID value and csi value. The formID is the search
    form and the csi is the database identifier. So a link to a set of
    tribunal documents here in Ontario ends up looking like this:

            http://www.lexisnexis.com/ca/legal/api/version1/sf?sfi=CA02STBrdsTribSrch&csi=281189

    Which is not nearly as nice as having a form based tool, but it works
    (you can see deep links on our site:
    http://rc.lsuc.on.ca/library/research_portals_realestate.htm) .

    I hope that helps! Good luck. David.

    On Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 4:53 PM, Franco, Adrienne<AFranco@iona.edu> wrote:
    > Hello!  I’m a new subscriber to this list and look forward to learning more
    > about law librarianship and legal materials.
    >
    >
    >
    > Our library subscribes to Westlaw Campus Research.  Apologies if this has
    > already been discussed.
    >
    >
    >
    > I called Westlaw Campus Research Tech Support and asked them whether
    > persistent or stable urls are available for individual resources (e.g.
    > American Jurisprudence 2d) within Campus Research or if instructions are
    > available on how to create such  urls for individual sources publications.
    >
    >
    >
    > The person I spoke with in Tech Support said her manager told her that the
    > only way to access specific resources directly would be for them to create a
    > special web page for us.  I asked her if this would cost anything but she
    > didn’t know.
    >
    >
    >
    > Campus Research is a wonderful product with many valuable resources.
    > Unfortunately, content is often buried under layers of clicks and library
    > patrons may not even be aware that  specific sources are included within the
    > database.
    >
    >
    >
    > What we try to do for specific resources which we know our users would want
    > to access, is to actually create a record in our library catalog for the
    > resource.
    >
    > For example, we would create a cataloging record for American Jurisprudence
    > 2d, but instead of a call no. we would include a direct, persistent url
    > which our patrons would click on directly from the cataloging record to go
    > right to the screen within Campus Research to allow them to ONLY search that
    > publication.
    >
    > We do this already with selected specific resources within Lexis-Nexis
    > Academic.
    >
    >
    >
    > This would increase use of the database and make its content more visible to
    > library users.
    >
    >
    >
    > I’m puzzled by the apparent lack of persistent urls as virtually every other
    > database vendor we have provides such urls – often not only for source
    > publications but even for specific articles (e.g. journal articles) as
    > well.  This includes Lexis-Nexis Academic, which is a related database we
    > also subscribe to.
    >
    >
    >
    > I’m also puzzled by why, when we click on link to Campus Research, we are
    > brought to a terms of agreement screen which we have to click on ok and then
    > go, before we can get to the initial search screen for the database.  No
    > other database vendor requires users to click on a terms of service
    > agreement screen.  We had asked if we could be brought directly to the
    > initial search page in the database but were told “no”.
    >
    >
    >
    > I asked them if they would pass along my e-mail as feedback to executives at
    > Thomson Reuters or whoever is in a policymaking position who could allow
    > persistent urls and bypassing of the terms of agreement screen.
    >
    >
    >
    > Thanks in advance for your help.
    >
    >
    >
    > Adrienne Franco
    >
    > Reference & Instructional Services Librarian
    >
    > Iona College Libraries
    >
    > 715 North Avenue
    >
    > New Rochelle, NY  10801-1890
    >
    > (914) 633-2348



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