Finding Cases in Lexis-Nexis

By , September 13, 2007 2:39 pm

The old Lexis-Nexis had a nice box where you could input relevant pieces of a case citation. The new and improved version does not.

I had a student come to the desk with note that said: Texas v Johnson 491 V.(unreadable) 397 (1989)

The Legal tab was of no help. Nor was the Help. After talking to Dan for about 10 minutes we found this case by doing the following:

Go to “easy search”.

Type in “Texas vs. Johnson” and use the “s” in vs.

Select the legal box.

Leave year range to “Previous 2”

The  actual case is: Texas vs. Johnson, 491 US 397 (1989).

Now to test the Dan method I found Johnson v. Quarterman in Lexis and tried to search for it.

Usign the “vs.” I could not bring it up. However, if I used just “v.” it will appear in the list.

So, when students start coming to the reference desk for legal cases you’ll have to try both methods.

-Brad

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