Thinking Outside the Search Box

Legal Researchers tend to get stuck in their approach to legal research. Some always start (and finish) with Lexis or Westlaw; many more do a Google search and believe their results are as good as can be. The efficient researcher knows, however, that there are many more resources available than these, and also thinks about the peculiar nature of the information sought.

In a recent article, Thinking Outside the Search Box, Mary Ellen Bates demonstrates how two hours of research led her much beyond Google, to include valuable information from wikipedia, from free and subscription searchable databases, newsfeeds, and consumer sites. It is hardly surprising that Mary Ellen Bates is a librarian and a principal of a research and consulting firm.

Many of the seminar courses starting in a couple of weeks require in depth research for a scholarly paper in lieu of a final exam. If you are a student in any such course, this is a good article to read.