ALR Student’s Corner: IntelliConnect – How Can I Use This Resource?

Intelliconnect is research platform, developed by Wolters Kluwer, with resources organized by practice area.  Each practice area contains various resources organized in an intuitive manner to assist the busy practitioner.  A helpful shortcut is to use the “Citations” button.  Here is an example:

You have a case involving Internal Revenue Code Section 108 and you need to retrieve that code section.  From the home screen, locate the “Citations” button.

Click this button and you will be given various resource options in the left window.  We are looking for an Internal Revenue Code section, so click the + beside “Federal Tax.”  Keep expanding down through the categories under “Federal Tax Primary Sources” until you can click directly on “Current Internal Revenue Code.”  At this point, you can type in 108 to retrieve results for that section.

If you click “Go,” you will get a results page based on current and former versions of § 108.  The first result is the most current one and if you click on it, the window will split into two, with all the results on top and the one you chose on the bottom.  This result gives you the full text of § 108.  In the result, you can click on “Related Information Federal” to retrieve other code sections that relate to § 108 and history documents.

There are two other ways to search by citation, if you do not like the method just illustrated.  One is to do exactly what we did in our first step by drilling down to “Current Internal Revenue Code” and instead of typing 108 into the box we used, you can type it into the box above.  Below the box we used in the first example are the appropriate forms for the citation if you are going to use the top text box in the window.

The final method is probably the easiest and can be done in one simple step off the home screen if you know the proper format for the citation of the resource you are looking to retrieve.  In the very top area, under Search/Browse, click the arrow and select “Citations.”  After doing this, you can type in the citation for the resource you need and click “Go.”

~Samantha Souza, L’12~

The “WOW” factor – Encore Synergy and the Charlotte School of Law Library Catalog

You’ve seen the posters, the signs and the “WOW” buttons worn by staff and faculty.  Soon you’ll see a change in the CSL Library catalog. Beginning the week of August 15th, you’ll be able to construct and launch your search of library materials from a single search box, much as you would do a Google search.

Click here to discover the power of library search...

Encore Synergy provides a method of federated searching across various resources.  This means that in addition to searching the CSL library catalog for physical holdings at our school, you’ll be able to simultaneously search multiple resources. Not only will you be able to retrieve books, journal titles, e-books, DVDs and cassettes, but you will also be able to retrieve abstracts and full text articles from our specialized electronic resources.  Specifically, you’ll be able to retrieve full text articles from HeinOnline.

For example, if you wanted to search for only articles on the subject of Dred Scott, you would click on the word “articles” in the top left corner and enter the words “Dred Scott” in the search box.  You results would include a list of citations and access to the full text in pdf format when available.

Your results would also be sorted by source and listed along the left side of the screen.  For example, this search indicates that there were 1149  references to Dred Scott in the HeinOnline resource,  30 in the Legal Trac resource, and others available in the Making of Modern Law, etc.

The Charlotte School of Law Library staff will be presenting training opportunities and will be available to answer any questions you have concerning this resource.

~Susan Catterall~

A Hidden Treasure… a la LexisNexis

During the last visit from our LexisNexis representative, my curiosity and interest were piqued beyond belief when I was graced with a brief demo of LexisNexis^® for Microsoft Office.  Horrifyingly enough, this isn’t a new product – which only serves to make me feel out of the loop and like a failure as a librarian.  Hence I’m taking the opportunity to share this treasure with all of you, thus redeeming myself as a professional.

LexisNexis^®for Microsoft Office is available for both PC and Mac users, and allows you to research and write at the same time within your Word document and analyze your inbox messages and attachments with just one click.

Here’s some highlights of its functionality:

• One click to analyze your emails and documents – within Outlook and Word you now have the ability to search content and resources from LexisNexis, the open Web and customer files
• Read your references in context –  LMO identifies all cited references in your Word document and automatically pulls all of those sources into a virtual stack of documents so you can read these side by side with your original.  You can also extract your citations and create a list for ease of viewing
• Index your working document with hyperlinks to relevant information such as background information, Shepard’s reports and signals and the full-text of cited authority

Check out this demo of the product and ooh and aah appropriately…

Sound to good to be true?  Wait until you hear this – the word on the street is that future updates to LMO will include automatic Bluebooking.

So you want the download now, right?  LexisNexis^®for Microsoft Office is a download available on the LexisNexis site - simply log in and scroll towards the bottom of your screen until you see “Download Tools.”

But what if your Lexis password is inactive this summer?  Check out our earlier blog posting on registering for summer access.  You can get access for the vague reason of “advancing research skills” – which incidentally includes downloading and playing with LMO.

Keep your eyes open during the fall – LexisNexis^® for Microsoft Office will be incorporated into several Lexis trainings throughout the semester.  In addition, one on one appointments are always available for individual assistance or a more in-depth training on Lexis for Microsoft Office itself.  Contact Charlotte’s Lexis Representative Carmela Orsini (carmela.orsini@lexisnexis) for more information or if you have any issues registering for summer access.

~Ashley Moye~