Would it Kill West . . . to include the same information on WestlawNext and Westlaw Classic that it includes in West Reporters?

摘要

As an instructor of legal research to first-year law students and advanced legal research to second- and third-year law students for more than 16 years, I am a big fan of West's topic and key number system. I believe it is the most effective and efficient way to locate relevant case law--better than keyword searching on either Westlaw or LexisNexis. The topic and key number system has been used in West's print reporters and digests for more than 100 years, and it is available on both Westlaw Classic and WestlawNext. However, Westlaw presents the information differently from the print reporters (the West National Reporter System). These differences lead to confusion and may cause researchers to miss relevant cases. For the sake of continuity and clarity, Westlaw should present the topic and key number information in a manner consistent with the print reporters.