Westlaw Campus Quick Start Tutorial

The steps and screen shots displayed below will show how to access and do a basic search for a case or other legal document using the Westlaw research database via the Empire State College library.

ACCESS:
If you are unfamiliar with accessing the college's research databases or entering your college login, review the "Access" quick start tutorial.

To Access Westlaw Campus

1. Go to library's home page at www.esc.edu/library.
2. Click on "All Databases by Title" in first column, under "Journals & Articles."
3. Look for "Westlaw" in the table (listed alphabetically)
4. Enter your college login and password.
5. After login, you must first agree to the Westlaw Terms of Agreement. Read the agreement, scroll to the bottom of that page, make sure "I Agree" is checked and click on the "GO" button.

Find a Document by Citation
Most cases have a unique identifying citation, typically consisting of the volume number, the abbreviated name of the reporter it is prnted in and the page number where the case is found. For a detailed tutorial on understanding legal citations, including the abbreviations used, go here: http://www.law.cornell.edu/citation/
• example: to retrieve the Supreme Court case Bush v. Gore, 121 S. Ct. 525 (2000), type 121sct525 in the "Find a document by citation" text box and click GO.

Find a Document by Title
If you know the title of a case, you can retrieve it using the names of the parties listed in the title.
• example: to retrieve Mapp v. , Ohio type mapp and ohio in the "Find a document by title" text boxes and click GO.

Key Search
Use KeySearch to locate cases, law reviews, etc. by browsing or searching a list of legal keywords and issues. Click the "GO" button within the KeySearch section on the left side of the search interface to view the list of keywords as shown below.



Quick Search
When you want to search for documents about a specific issue, especially one that may not be covered in the KeySearch listings, use the Quick Search feature displayed in the middle of the page. This allows you to search via natural language (e.g.: "what is the current status of tort reform?") or keywords (e.g.: "tort reform" and status).
Steps to search:
1. In the "Search for" text box, make sure Natural Language is selected as the option and type a description of your issue using terms that describe its main concepts.
2. Select a database to search. For example, to search for Supreme Court decisions only (if you want all Federal Cases, including the Supreme Court, select "All Federal Cases"), select the "Supreme Court Cases after 1944" option under the "Cases" section below the search box.
3. Click GO.
Example Natural Language Searches:
• To retrieve federal cases on whether burning the flag is constitutionally protected free speech, type: is flag burning constitutionally protected free speech (or try something simpler like: "flag burning" and "free speech") and select All Federal Cases as your database.
• To retrieve federal statutes on discrimination in the workplace, type discrimination in the workplace and select United States Code Annotated as your database.
• To retrieve articles from American Jurisprudence 2d about the Miranda warning, type miranda warning and select American Jurisprudence 2d as your database.

Help (FAQs)
Click on this link (always displayed in the upper right corner) for details and answers to commonly asked questions on how to use all the search and analysis tools available through WestLaw Campus.

• A red flag indicates that the case or administrative decision is no longer good law for at least one of the points of law it contains or that the statute or regulation has been amended, repealed, superseded, or held unconstitutional in part or in its entierety.

• A yellow flag indicates that the case or administrative decision has some negative history but hasn’t been reversed or overruled.

• A blue H indicates that the case or administrative decision has some history.
• A green C indicates that the case or administrative decision has citing references but no direct or negative indirect history or that the statute or regulation has citing references.

• You can access the Help pages for this database from any location using the "Help (FAQs)" link in the upper right corner.
• Click on the "Research Trail" link at the top of the display to view a history of the searches you have done in your current session. Click on a link in the trail list to recreate the search or access a previously viewed document.
• When you do a "Quick Search" using keywords, those keywords will be highlighted in yellow within the text of each case when you view it.
• On results and case display pages, use the arrow icons at the bottom of the page to navigate between results
• If you are not at a computer with print capabiltities, you can opt to e-mail any cases or results list to an address of your choosing for later printing. You can also download results to disc in plain text format. To do so, look for the little"E-mail Doc" button in the bottom left corner.