Bye, Bye Westlaw Classic!

Most academic law librarians know that Westlaw Classic will no longer be with us as of July 1, 2014. 

As Law Librarians noted, WestlawNext now accounts for at least 80% of the Westlaw revenues, so the time has come to say goodbye to the old platform. I've been told that all of the content has migrated from Westlaw Classic to WestlawNext, so it's not a huge loss. WestlawNext is easy to maneuver, and it's become a good product.

One thing that I will miss are the research tabs on Westlaw Classic. I used the Law Review tab extensively when teaching Scholarly Writing. The Law Review tab has the content for preemption checking and topic selection all in one place, which is a very nice feature.

I wonder if WestlawNext will eventually have these custom research pages? Until then, I found a way to make your own. WestlawNext allows you to create a custom research page. The instructions are fairly straight forward. 

I am currently in the process of creating a Law Review custom research page. I created a 'preemption check' content section, and I am adding all of the resources that are in the Law Review tab's preemption check box on Westlaw Classic, including Law Review & Journals, Legal Resource Index, Am Jur 2d, American Law Reports, Current Index to Legal Periodicals, and Texts & Treatises. I will also add a topic selection content section and add those resources that are currently on Westlaw Classic.

If you use a research tab on Westlaw Classic, hurry up and create a custom research page on WestlawNext before Westlaw Classic goes away!