Transitioning from Westlaw Classic to WestlawNext: Specialized Tools

You can set almost any content (ex: Journals and Law Reviews) or group of content (ex: Indiana resources) as a Favorite.  To set a database as a favorite, look for the star symbol to the right of the title on the page for that database.  Clicking that star will add it to your favorites box. 

Your favorites show up on the right side of the WestlawNext home page.

Folders - when viewing a document, you'll see a folder icon, which will allow you to add the document to an existing or new folder in WestlawNext; visit your folders by clicking the Folders link at the top-right of the screen.

History - located at the top-right of the screen, History shows you your most recent searches and viewed documents; similarly, an eyeglasses icon next to a document you're viewing indicates you looked at it in the last 30 days.

Alerts - you can create a KeyCite alert for a document by clicking on the bell icon while viewing the document; by navigating to the Alerts link at the top-right of the screen, you can also create alerts based on certain searches, WestClip, and more.

We are all familiar with the West Key Number System and its usefulness in legal research.  WestlawNext makes it very easy to browse or search the Key Number System: Click on the Tools tab, below the main search bar; West Key Number System is the first tool listed.

You have several options for using it on this page.

• Search the West Key Number System - you will be searching headnotes to cases, not opinions themselves
• Title Search - you will be searching the topics and sub-topics in the West Key Number System only, so a simpler search is a better one.
• Browse - you can also navigate using the list of topics in the center of the page.  Checking a box next to a particular topic will limit the main search box to just searching within those headnotes.

Other tips:

• Clicking on a topic will expand it into subtopics for an even more specialized search.  
• Hovering over any of the topics will give you a scope note, represented by a little 'i'.

In lieu of Westlaw Classic's personalized tabs, you can design custom pages on WestlawNext. This feature allows you to select which types of materials you want to view or search, and facilitates searching of multiple, select databases at once.
  As with the tabs in Classic, you are not limited on the number of custom pages you can create in your WestlawNext account.

Custom Pages are found below your Favorites, on the right side of the WestlawNext home page.  Each Custom Page will show up as its own link in the Custom Pages box, and, when clicked, will pop up as a full page in WestlawNext.