The benefits of creating a Westlaw UK profile

Westlaw logo

Westlaw can help you to better organize your research. With a Westlaw profile
you can:

  • add documents to folders
  • email/print/download documents
  • create alerts
  • and use the Linkbuilder tool.

You can still access, email, print and download individual documents or result lists without a profile, but if you are planning to use Westlaw a lot, you will definitely benefit from the extra features that a profile offers.

Important:
Access to Westlaw UK should always be through Primo whether you are creating a profile or not. Login to Primo and go to the Find Databases tab at the top. Click on ‘W’ and scroll down until you reach Westlaw UK. Click on the link. The database might ask you to provide your University username and password, a process also known as
Shibboleth authentication.

To create a profile:

Once you are linked out to Westlaw (through Shibboleth authentication) you will see a smaller window with the heading ‘Log in to My Westlaw UK Profile’ prompting you to Log In or Skip.

Create profile final

1) Click on Create Profile. Provide your first name, last name and your email address and click on Create.
2)  Go back to your email to obtain your password. Login to your profile will be by           providing the email you registered with (as your username) and a password.
3) Enter your username and temporary password. When you sign in to My Westlaw UK for the first time, you’ll be asked to change your password to something more memorable. This needs to be between 6 and 25 digits long.

new password

Next thing you will see is this screen:

When you have finished setting up your profile and Log In, your name will appear at the top blue line. Westlaw will always suggest that you log in to your profile.

The benefits:

Adding documents to folders    Picture1

When you find a case, journal article or piece of legislation that is of interest to you, save it in a folder so you can go back to it later. How? Simply click on the Add to Folder icon on the right of the light blue line across the top of the screen. An Add to Folder menu will open. You can save the document in one of your existing folders, or, for first-time users: create a new folder by typing a name in the box and clicking on New Folder. Next time you login to Westlaw, you can visit your folders from the My Folders link at the very top of the screen (dark blue line). All of your saved documents will be there. A great way of organizing your findings!

Creating alerts     ALARM

If a specific case is of particular interest to you, you can create an alert for it and thus be informed of any changes; e.g. when its status changes, or when it gets referenced in a journal article, when it’s cited by another case, or when another case has been heard between the same parties on a different point of law. To create a Case Alert, go to the Case Analysis document, the full text or Graphical History and click on the Create Case Alert link at the top right hand corner of the screen. (Looks like an alarm clock.) You can also create an alert for a list of results from a specific search.

Click on Alerts (blue line at the top) to go back to your saved alerts and run a search again or edit it, or to change the way your alerts are set up!

And…

The Linkbuilder tool   linkbuilder

This feature allows you to create direct links to material on Westlaw UK. The links can include authentication; meaning that upon clicking on them, users will have to provide their University username and password. You can create and send links to result pages, individual documents or search templates.

To use this feature you need to have a profile with Westlaw. Next step is to contact Westlaw UK Customer Support Team on 0800 028 2200 or by email at:  customer.service@westlaw.co.uk and request access to the Linkbuilder tool.

To create a link:

1) Navigate to the document and click the Build Link icon on the top right hand corner of the screen. You will be presented with a link creation screen. (The Linkbuilder screen.) You can choose your method of authentication here:

2) For the University of Aberdeen authentication is via the entityID URL for Shibboleth. (Deselect the Save sponsor code option.)
Enter the following in the entityID URL box: https://shibserv.abdn.ac.uk/shibboleth and make sure the Save entityID URL box is ticked.

3) Click Copy to Clipboard at the bottom of the screen. The link is now ready to be pasted into any document. Remember that you can also ‘hide’ links under citations or words (in other words, linkify words or parts of text) if you are creating and publishing
material online.

Read this guide to find out more about the Linkbuilder tool.

Tip: If you skip logging in to your profile and later decide that you would like to use the extra features that a profile offers, the way to log in is by clicking on the Westlaw UK icon at the top left hand corner, then clicking on MyWestlaw to bring up the log in window! Your name will appear at the start of the blue ribbon at the top.

Remember to Log Out!

—————————————————————————————————————–

For more information on using Westlaw UK, find our Library guides here.
Come and see us in person if you need help with Westlaw or any other legal database!

Eleni Borompoka
Taylor Library & EDC
01224 272601
eleni.boro@abdn.ac.uk
lawlib@abdn.ac.uk

 

 

 

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