Lexis‐Nexis in an academic reference environment: User policies and instruction methods

Abstract

In the fall of 1993, Washington State University (WSU) Libraries decided to subscribe to Mead Data's Lexis‐Nexis to support pre‐law and criminal justice research. Two passwords were acquired. The introduction of Lexis‐Nexis to the Washington State University community was facilitated by a small group of librarians, who served as a task force concerned with issues of the implementation and instruction of the database. Lexis‐Nexis is an online information retrieval system providing access to a wide range of sources including full‐text legal information and full‐text and abstracted information from newspapers, magazines, company annual reports, news and business magazines, newsletters, wire services, government documents, broadcast transcripts, and other sources. Because of the complex nature of the database, the process of implementing Lexis‐Nexis in a public service area was more involved than our previous experiences with other online or CD‐ROM services.