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Comparison of LexisNexis Butterworths and Westlaw UK Published
An independent comparative product review of LexisNexis Butterworths and Westlaw UK has just been published by VIP Magazine.
These two products, industry-standard for legal research, have never before been subject to a detailed side-by-side comparison of sources, search functions, output options and usability. The North American versions of these products are more commonly reviewed in the industry press, but the UK and European versions of the products differ significantly.
On request from VIP customers, a significant number of whom are in the legal industry, VIP commissioned Diane Raper, academic services liaison librarian for law at the Templeman Library at the University of Canterbury, to complete the comparative study of the UK/European products.
Raper's study involved a thorough review of sources and functions, which highlight the strengths of the products based on their historical provenance. LexisNexis Butterworths grew out of the Butterworths service. 'It entered the UK market in the early 1980’s and for many years struggled to find its market. Lawyers were resistant to using a product that was neither intuitive nor matched their needs', Raper notes.
Westlaw UK, on the other hand, 'is a relative newcomer into the UK market, arriving in 1999'. Westlaw, a division of Thomson Reuters, markets its UK product by the name more commmonly known in the UK marketplace -- Sweet and Maxwell.
Sources - The outgrowth of the current services from their
historical roots has an important impact on sources available to
users. Official law reports are common to both services, but
specialist series tend to be unique to one or the other service. 'If
only one of these services was to be selected, the appropriate texts
in the areas of law practiced could well sway the decision-making
process', says Raper.
Searching - Raper's review involved conducting a series of
searches on both products to evaluate their search functions. The
review includes screen shots of different steps in the search process.
Raper says, 'Early versions of legal online products were disliked by
many lawyers because they found them so difficult to use.... [Both
services] have met many of the objections face on and adapted their
products to enable them to either replicate manual processes or to
provide added value in using online'.
Output - Given the importance of output format, Raper's review
includes a detailed comparison of options available. Tables compare
the services in tgerms of printing, PDF availability, downloading,
email options and awareness offerings including alerts and RSS
notification.
Choices - Any law library of information service supporting
legal research will need to carefully consider both LexisNexis
Butterworths and Westlaw UK. Because of the differences in source
materials, it would not be unusual to subscribe to both services in
order to provide legal experts with comprehensive resources. However,
when subscribing to both is not an option, this review provides enough
information for an information service to choose which may best meet
their needs, saving them time in further product evaluation.
The issue is available to purchase online as a one-off copy priced GBP
54 or by annual subscription starting at GBP 280 for a single location
at: http://web.vivavip.com/go/vip/55
Information for Editors - VIP Magazine is a
monthly publication of in-depth product reviews and news analysis for
the premium content industry. It is available by paid annual
subscription and is delivered in digital (PDF) format by email. VIP is
published by Free Pint Limited.
Pamela Clark, senior editor of VIP, has played many different roles in
the information sector throughout her career. She has worked in local
government, accountancy, management consulting and investment banking
in the UK, Continental Europe and the US, most recently as Director,
Corporate Research & Development, AIG, in New York. Pamela builds on
all this experience to connect with subscribers and vendors, determine
which products and areas of focus to highlight in VIP, and provide
insightful comment on the news affecting information purchasers, users
and vendors. Contact Pamela Clark by email to
pamela.clark@freepint.com
About Free Pint Limited
Free Pint Limited is a UK-based publisher of web sites and
publications serving different niches within the global information
industry. Its properties include:
- FUMSI http://www.fumsi.com, a resource of practical articles and
reports for information practitioners who Find, Use, Manage and Share
business information
- VIP http://www.vivaVIP.com, a paid-subscription publication for
senior- level decision-makers with budgetary control for premium
content products and services
- Jinfo http://www.Jinfo.com, an online searchable database of
information jobs in the UK, Australia and North America
- ResourceShelf and DocuTicker http://www.resourceshelf.com,
http://www.docuticker.com, two websites updated daily with resources,
full-text reports and other items of interest to researchers,
journalists, librarians and other information professionals
- Learn more about FreePint at Onopoly, the one-stop site for
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