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LexisNexis Academic: Power Search

LexisNexis® Academic provides access to full-text news, business, and legal publications, using a variety of flexible search options. One of the most heavily used databases in higher education, LexisNexis® Academic is available at over 1,500 libraries serving over 8 million students and faculty. It is a standard element in many research and information literacy programs.

Access over 10,000 news, business, and legal sources. The outstanding news coverage includes deep backfiles and up-to-the-minute stories in national and regional newspapers, wire services, broadcast transcripts, international news, and non-English language sources. Use the included Company Dossier module to retrieve detailed company information and financial performance measures or identify and compare companies matching specific criteria. This product also provides access to the renowned Shepard's Citations® service for all federal and states court cases back to 1789.

Frequently Asked Questions

This section contains frequently asked questions about the LexisNexis Academic. If the answer is particularly long, click on the "More..." link to read the full answer.

Enhancements for January 2010

Enhancements go live in January 2010, but the old interface will still be available until Summer 2010. See Academic Help: Overview for more info.

What Are You Changing?

There is no change in content and only minor changes to most of the existing forms. There is a new design for the navigation menus and a dramatic change to the Easy Search form. We also added a small number of additional search forms such as a "Landmark Cases" form under the "Legal" menu.

Why Are You Making These Changes?

The major redesign project we completed in 2007 dramatically changed the user experience with LexisNexis Academic; it also gave us far more flexibility to modify the user interface. Since then redesign we have listened to a great deal of feedback from librarian community as well as our LexisNexis colleagues who train and support users. Combining this feedback with user testing that we conducted in fall 2008, we identified several areas for improvement. The most salient issues were that students were confused by the Easy Search form, were not finding all the options available on the navigation menu, and were not aware of the large number and great variety of valuable resources available in LexisNexis Academic. The enhancements are focused on these three issues, though we are making minor changes throughout the interface to make it easier to use.

Can I See the New Search Forms?

Yes. The new search forms are now part of our current and preferred interface. See the Academic Search Form Menu article for details on the new and changed forms.

Are There New User Guides and Tutorials?

This wiki will serve as the primary user guide and help text for LexisNexis Academic. We are also planning a series of short video guides for specific research tasks.

How Are You Announcing the Changes?

The primary medium for communicating news about LexisNexis Academic to the librarian community continues to be our listserv. The Academic listserv homepage is at http://lists.lnacademic.com/scripts/wa.exe To sign up for the listserv, visit http://www.lexisnexis.com/academic/listserv/default.asp

We will also be sending email announcements to library contacts who may not be on the listserv and will be posting announcements aimed at end users on Twitter and discussing the changes in detail in the Podcast currently feature in our Main Page

Do You Want To Hear My Thoughts on Improving LexisNexis Academic?

Absolutely. You can tell us what you think using the feedback form at http://www.amdev.net/lna_proto/ or contact the product manager, Alistair Morrison directly.

Subscription and Technical Issues

How Do I Tell if my Subscription Is Set up Correctly?

LexisNexis Academic has been designed so that all subscribers have access to exactly the same content and features. Unlike other LexisNexis services, there are no optional modules. If you have access to the product then you can be confident that it has been set up correctly with the right options -- with one caveat. You should check your subscription to ensure that it includes the Company Dossier service. Please see the article on Academic Subscription Configuration.

Is Remote Access Allowed?

Yes. Please see the article on Remote Access.

Does LexisNexis Support OpenURL Article Linking?

LexisNexis Academic does not accept OpenURL formatted queries itself, but it supports OpenURL link resolvers by providing a URL API that can be used to link to specific titles or retrieve specific documents.

Does LexisNexis Support Federated Search?

Yes. LexisNexis Academic provides an XML gateway that can be used by federated search systems. For more details and a list of the federated search systems currently supported, please see the article on Federated Search

Does LexisNexis Provide COUNTER Compliant Usage Reports

Not yet. We currently provide usage reports via a secure website that supply most of the data elements required by the COUNTER Code of Practice. Please see our Subscriber Resources page on Usage Reports.

We are developing COUNTER report. Our expectation is to have COUNTER Database 3 reports (searches and sessions by database) available to users in 2010. LexisNexis databases are not considered journals services, and is neither obliged nor able to provide the detailed Journal 1 reports. As a courtesy, LexisNexis will provide a custom report based on the Journals 1 report that shows document accesses by LexisNexis library/file.

Are durable URLs available in LexisNexis Academic?

Durable links are not automatically provided in LexisNexis Academic documents, but they are relatively easy to create, and we provide tools and other resources to help. More ...

Can I Change the Home Page or Default Sources?

No. LexisNexis Academic does not support customization such as changing the home page or specifying which sources appear on a search form. However, it does allow you to link directly to search form using the Academic URLs for Search Forms.

General Searching

Should I use the Easy Search or Power Search?

The search form you use will always depend on your research needs. More...

What is the difference between "Terms and Connectors" and "General Language" searches?

A "Terms and Connectors" search uses Boolean-style terms and connectors, such as PUBLICATION() and w/3, to narrow the results set. A natural language search requires just as it says, natural language. Type in words, just as you would with an internet search engine. More...

What are index terms and why and how should I use them?

LexisNexis Academic uses an index to catalog its content. If you are looking for an article, transcript, or case about baseball, you can attach the index term "Baseball" to your search and all the articles that have been indexed about "Baseball" will return. For more information, please visit our page on SmartIndexing Technology. Or our Indexing User Guide

What does it mean to search within Document Sections?

A document section is an element within the document such as "Byline", "Date", etc. These sections are useful when you need to narrow your search to something very specific, like an author's name or a word in the headline. More...

Can I search within a particular source?

Absolutely. On the Easy Search form, start typing the source you're looking for in the "Search The News" widget. Or click the sources tab at the top of the page and search for your source, or browse the A-Z list. You may search sources by title, country or state, or topic. Once you find a source you'd like to search within, select it and click the "OK-Continue" red button. You may select more than one source at a time.

Can we save searches or set up alerts in LexisNexis Academic?

There are no personalization features in LexisNexis Academic that would allow you to save searches or set up email alerts. However, it is relatively easy to build Durable URLs that run canned searches.

How do I access the monthly content list (The A-Z list)?

Visit http://amdev.net/rpt_std_content.php to download the monthly content list.

News

When I click on the "Select Sources" drop-down box, the publication I want to search isn't there. How do I search a particular publication?

The answer is simple: Search the sources! More...

How do I search on all papers from a particular area, like Kansas?

Use the Regional News Search form to search sources from a particular area. Click on the News tab, then the Regional News search form. Also, the sources tab will also help you find publications by geographic location. There, you are able to search through "aggregated sources" which include newspapers by state, region, and country. More...

How do I find all articles from a specific issue?

LexisNexis Academic does not have the "browse issue" feature found in some databases. However, you can easily construct a search that will return all articles from a specific issue date. More...

Legal

When Searching Legal Cases, How do I search by Party Name?

If you use the Easy Search form, just type the names right in the two boxes. It doesn't matter which name you type first! For a more precise search, under the US Legal Tab, select the "Federal & State Cases" Search form. Type the Party name or the case name in the box provided and select "Party Name" from the drop-down box. You can type "Roe v. Wade" in the box or Roe in one box and Wade in the other box - just be sure to select "Party Name" after typing those in.

What are Shepard's Citations? Why do I need them?

Shepard's Citations are an extremely useful tool for legal research. By entering a case's citation number into Shepard's, you will see everytime that case has been referenced, all treatments of the case, and, most importantly, whether or not the case is "good law." If the case has been over-ruled, it may no longer be cited, and is considered "bad law." To use Shepard's, you can either enter the citation number at the Shepard's Citation search form (listed on the right side, under Federal & State cases) or from inside an actual case, you may go to the "Next Steps" drop-down box in the upper right-hand corner of your document and select "Shepardize" from the list. More...

Business

What can I find in Company Dossier?

Company Dossier is a critical tool for business majors or anyone doing business research. You can find most public company information for companies including: analysis and basic information, current news stories, company profiles, list of competitors, corporate hierarchy, financial information, legal information, and intellectual property information.
In addition to this, you may use the "Compare Companies" search form to compare up to 5 companies at a time.

People

What can I find through the Biographical search form?

By entering in a first and last name, you can find a variety of things about a person. It is important to remember this is not a background-checking service. Access to individual and personal public records is not available through this search form. Instead, you'll find: general biographical information, executive directories, current congress biographical profiles, legal biographies, government biographies, law directories, legislative biographies, who's who foreign listings, and obituary information.

External Links

The following link will lead you to a subscription page. Please see our About Subscription Links article for more information.
http://academic.lexisnexis.com

The Academic listserv homepage is at http://lists.lnacademic.com/scripts/wa.exe
To sign up for the listserv, visit http://www.lexisnexis.com/academic/listserv/default.asp

User Guides

See the Academic Binder Series

@@ Line 7: / Line 7: @@
-[[Image:Generalscreenshot1.jpg|right|thumb|250px|LexisNexis Academic]]
+[[Image:Generalscreenshot1.jpg|right|thumb|250px|LexisNexis Academic: Power Search]]
 LexisNexis® ''Academic'' provides access to full-text news, business, and legal publications, using a variety of flexible search options. One of the most heavily used databases in higher education, LexisNexis® ''Academic'' is available at over 1,500 libraries serving over 8 million students and faculty. It is a standard element in many research and information literacy programs.
-Access over 6,000 news, business, and legal sources. The outstanding news coverage includes deep backfiles and up-to-the-minute stories in national and regional newspapers, wire services, broadcast transcripts, international news, and non-English language sources. Use the included Company Dossier module to retrieve detailed company information and financial performance measures or identify and compare companies matching specific criteria. This product also provides access to the renowned Shepard's Citations® service for all federal and states court cases back to 1789.
+Access over 10,000 news, business, and legal sources. The outstanding news coverage includes deep backfiles and up-to-the-minute stories in national and regional newspapers, wire services, broadcast transcripts, international news, and non-English language sources. Use the included Company Dossier module to retrieve detailed company information and financial performance measures or identify and compare companies matching specific criteria. This product also provides access to the renowned Shepard's Citations® service for all federal and states court cases back to 1789.
 <br>
 ==Frequently Asked Questions==
@@ Line 19: / Line 19: @@
 =====What Are You Changing?=====
 <DIV style="padding-left: 50pt; padding-right: 50pt;">
-There will be no change in content and only minor changes to most of the existing forms. There will be a new design for the navigation menus and a dramatic change to the Easy Search form. We are also planning to add a small number of additional search forms such as a "Landmark Cases" form under the "Legal" menu.
+There is no change in content and only minor changes to most of the existing forms. There is a new design for the navigation menus and a dramatic change to the Easy Search form. We also added a small number of additional search forms such as a "Landmark Cases" form under the "Legal" menu.
 </DIV>
 =====Why Are You Making These Changes?=====
 <DIV style="padding-left: 50pt; padding-right: 50pt;">
 The major redesign project we completed in 2007 dramatically changed the user experience with LexisNexis Academic; it also gave us far more flexibility to modify the user interface. Since then redesign we have listened to a great deal of feedback from librarian community as well as our LexisNexis colleagues who train and support users. Combining this feedback with user testing that we conducted in fall 2008, we identified several areas for improvement.  The most salient issues were that students were confused by the Easy Search form, were not finding all the options available on the navigation menu, and were not aware of the large number and great variety of valuable resources available in LexisNexis Academic. The enhancements are focused on these three issues, though we are making minor changes throughout the interface to make it easier to use. </DIV>
 =====Can I See the New Search Forms?=====
 <DIV style="padding-left: 50pt; padding-right: 50pt;">
-Yes.  See the [[Academic Search Form Menu]] article for details on the new and changed forms.
+Yes.  The new search forms are now part of our current and preferred interface. See the [[Academic Search Form Menu]] article for details on the new and changed forms.
 </DIV>
-=====Will There Be New User Guides and Tutorials?=====
+=====Are There New User Guides and Tutorials?=====
 <DIV style="padding-left: 50pt; padding-right: 50pt;">
-This wiki will serve as the primary user guide and help text for LexisNexis Academic. We will update be adding and updating the wiki in advance of the December release to provide detailed guidance for users and instructors.  We are also planning a series of short video guides for specific research tasks.
+This wiki will serve as the primary user guide and help text for LexisNexis Academic.  We are also planning a series of short video guides for specific research tasks.
 </DIV>
@@ Line 38: / Line 39: @@
 The primary medium for communicating news about LexisNexis Academic to the librarian community continues to be our listserv. The Academic listserv homepage is at [http://lists.lnacademic.com/scripts/wa.exe http://lists.lnacademic.com/scripts/wa.exe] To sign up for the listserv, visit [http://www.lexisnexis.com/academic/listserv/default.asp http://www.lexisnexis.com/academic/listserv/default.asp]
-We will also be sending email announcements to library contacts who may not be on the listserv and will be posting announcements aimed at end users on [[LexisNexis_Academic_on_Twitter | Twitter]] and discussing the changes in detail in the Podcast currently feature in our [[Main Page | Tip of the Week]]
+We will also be sending email announcements to library contacts who may not be on the listserv and will be posting announcements aimed at end users on [[LexisNexis_Academic_on_Twitter | Twitter]] and discussing the changes in detail in the Podcast currently feature in our [[Main Page | Main Page]]
 </DIV>
@@ Line 45: / Line 46: @@
 Absolutely. You can tell us what you think using the feedback form at [http://www.amdev.net/lna_proto/ http://www.amdev.net/lna_proto/] or contact the product manager, [[Contact Us | Alistair Morrison]] directly.
 </DIV>
 ===Subscription and Technical Issues===
 =====How Do I Tell if my Subscription Is Set up Correctly?=====
@@ Line 91: / Line 93: @@
 =====What are index terms and why and how should I use them?=====
-<div style="padding-left: 50pt; padding-right: 50pt;">LexisNexis Academic uses an index to catalog its content. If you are looking for an article, transcript, or case about baseball, you can attach the index term "Baseball" to your search and all the articles that have been indexed about "Baseball" will return. For more information, please visit our page on [[SmartIndexing]] Technology.</div>
+<div style="padding-left: 50pt; padding-right: 50pt;">LexisNexis Academic uses an index to catalog its content. If you are looking for an article, transcript, or case about baseball, you can attach the index term "Baseball" to your search and all the articles that have been indexed about "Baseball" will return. For more information, please visit our page on [[SmartIndexing]] Technology. Or our [[Power Search: Use the Index|Indexing User Guide]]</div>
 =====What does it mean to search within Document Sections?=====
@@ Line 97: / Line 99: @@
 =====Can I search within a particular source?=====
-<div style="padding-left: 50pt; padding-right: 50pt;">Absolutely. Click the sources tab at the top of the page and search for your source, or browse the A-Z list. You may search sources by title, country or state, or topic. Once you find a source you'd like to search within, select it and click the "OK-Continue" red button. You may select more than one source at a time.</div>
+<div style="padding-left: 50pt; padding-right: 50pt;">Absolutely. On the Easy Search form, start typing the source you're looking for in the "Search The News" widget. Or click the sources tab at the top of the page and search for your source, or browse the A-Z list. You may search sources by title, country or state, or topic. Once you find a source you'd like to search within, select it and click the "OK-Continue" red button. You may select more than one source at a time.</div>
 =====Can we save searches or set up alerts in LexisNexis Academic?=====
@@ Line 112: / Line 114: @@
 =====How do I search on all papers from a particular area, like Kansas?=====
-<div style="padding-left: 50pt; padding-right: 50pt;">The sources tab will also help you find publications by geographic location. There, you are able to search through "aggregated sources" which include newspapers by state, region, and country. [[Academic Sources Tab | More...]]</div>
+<div style="padding-left: 50pt; padding-right: 50pt;">Use the Regional News Search form to search sources from a particular area. Click on the News tab, then the Regional News search form. Also, the sources tab will also help you find publications by geographic location. There, you are able to search through "aggregated sources" which include newspapers by state, region, and country. [[Academic Sources Tab | More...]]</div>
 =====How do I find all articles from a specific issue?=====
@@ Line 119: / Line 121: @@
 ===Legal===
-=====When I first click on the Legal Tab, why am I taken directly to Law Reviews?=====
-<div style="padding-left: 50pt; padding-right: 50pt;">When doing legal research, it is often important to begin your research by searching secondary sources, like Law Reviews. LexisNexis set the order of our legal search forms to mirror the accepted order of legal research: secondary first, primary second. To search cases, simply click on the link "Federal & State Cases" on the right.</div>
-=====How do I search for cases by state?=====
-<div style="padding-left: 50pt; padding-right: 50pt;">All states are now listed as sources in the Select Sources drop-down box. Instead of searching the sources, you may select the state right from the search form.</div>
-=====Does it matter which name I put in first on the case name box?=====
+=====When Searching Legal Cases, How do I search by Party Name?=====
-<div style="padding-left: 50pt; padding-right: 50pt;">No, it doesn't. Roe v. Wade will return the same results as Wade v. Roe.</div>
+<div style="padding-left: 50pt; padding-right: 50pt;">If you use the Easy Search form, just type the names right in the two boxes. It doesn't matter which name you type first! For a more precise search, under the US Legal Tab, select the "Federal & State Cases" Search form. Type the Party name or the case name in the box provided and select "Party Name" from the drop-down box. You can type "Roe v. Wade" in the box or Roe in one box and Wade in the other box - just be sure to select "Party Name" after typing those in.</div>
 =====What are Shepard's Citations? Why do I need them?=====