Its elegant first impression in navy blue seems as timeless as your favorite suit. For faithful users of a classic legal tool, this is your last summer. I speak of Westlaw Classic, which will be discontinued as of August 31. Classic has remained surprisingly popular among regular users of the Law Library. It’s no surprise that some folks are pretty unhappy with its discontinuation.
The Law Library has long offered users free access to both Westlaw Classic and Westlaw Next, and we are happy to offer assistance to users unfamiliar with the latter. West also offers this special transition page to assist those making the switch. This comparison chart of the two might also make the process easier. (Hint: Select “Advanced Search” on the homepage of Westlaw Next to get to the terms and connectors interface.)
AALL Spectrum did an interesting feature on Westlaw Classic and its history last December. Read it and file the memory of old Westlaw alongside that of other old technologies like rotary phones, pagers, and mimeographs. (Note: You can still use the fax machine at the Law Library.)
