The legal database, Westlaw, has had an upgrade. The content remains the same, but you should notice significant improvements to the search and display options, and its overall look and feel.
How can I access it?
You can find links to the new Westlaw platforms on the Law subject guide and Library Search. There are separate links for Westlaw UK and Westlaw International.
What are the main features of the new platform?
You’ll find the main search headings (e.g. cases, legislation, journals, current awareness, books) are still there, but arranged differently.
As before, you can still search or browse across all content types, or limit to a specific content type (e.g. cases or legislation). Specific search options (such as using connectors) are similar to the old system, but you should find everything more clearly set out.
You’ll also find a wider range of personalisation features, including favourites, and options to annotate and share content with others.
Other new features include a Legislation Compare tool, which makes it easier to track recent and future changes to legislation.
You can browse topics to find key documents (including cases and legislation), and track the latest and future developments via an interactive calendar.
Where can I find out more?
You can get more help via handy quick reference guides to the new platform, or videos. As a minimum, we’d recommend watching the short overview video or the getting started guide, which take you through the key features, and give you useful tips. However, there are also helpful videos and guides on specific aspects, such as alerts, annotations, cases and legislation.
What do I need to do?
Please note, the old Westlaw platform will be switched off on 5th August 2019, so we would strongly encourage you to start using the new platform as soon as you can.
Personalisation features such as alerts and folders can’t be migrated to the new Westlaw platform. Therefore, if you have set up any of these on old Westlaw, you will need to set them up again on the new platform. You should find the new platform has much improved personalisation features.