Teaching librarians are routinely tasked with instructing on how to use subscription databases. This is true in both undergraduate and graduate settings, but something I try to keep in mind when I’m teaching legal research is what will my students actually have access to post gradation?
It’s true that Lexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg are common tools at this point that students need to be familiar with. Electronic legal research has drastically impacted the landscape of how lawyers work. It is not guaranteed that they will have access to all or even one of these products, however. That’s why teaching librarians often emphasize that students be comfortable with both Lexis and Westlaw at a minimum because we do not know their future employer’s preference.
For students entering public interest careers or solo practitioner law firms, however, they are even less likely to have access to expensive research databases. Offering law library workshops or instruction sessions specifically on how to proceed when you do not have any access to major databases can thus prove necessary. There are several things a librarian can highlight at a session like this such as:
- How to use Fastcase which lawyers receive access to as of now through state bar associations https://www.fastcase.com/bar-associations/
- Using Google Scholar for case law research https://guides.loc.gov/free-case-law/google-scholar
- How to visit a public law library post graduation and what questions would be relevant to ask. For example, in New York public law libraries are listed here https://ww2.nycourts.gov/lawlibraries/publicaccess.shtml
- If there are resources students get through being an alumni of your institution
I enjoy teaching these kinds of sessions because they provide a good opportunity to highlight for students that they can be the future change makers in this space. Legal information is not easily accessible if you are not well resourced. How can the future lawyers we are teaching make legal information more accessible not only for lawyers but for the public broadly? For example, in the recent past lawmakers almost made PACER free https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/no-free-pacer-us-lawmakers-exclude-proposal-spending-bill-2022-12-20/. There are many opportunities for students to get involved in this topic and we are well positioned to empower them to do so.