HeinOnline Blog

2017 Year in Review

By Lauren Mattiuzzo
January 18, 2018

9 MIN READ

Announcements

2017 turned out to be a roller coaster of a year. Here are just some of the things that happened this past year:

Britain Triggered Article 50 and kickstarted a two-year process that will end in Brexit.
The new U.S. President, Donald Trump, was inaugurated.
The Globe continues to warm.
Hurricanes Irma, Harvey, and Maria caused devastation across the Caribbean, Florida and Texas.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi declared the defeat of ISIS in Mosul.
The deadliest shooting in U.S. history occurred in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Australia became the 25th country to vote yes for marriage equality.
Accusations against Harvey Weinstein started a movement against sexual harassment in Hollywood.
The hashtag #metoo went viral, bringing light to the tremendous number of both women and men who have been sexually assaulted.

Several iconic entertainers passed away, including singer-actor David Cassidy, actress Mary Tyler Moore, rock legend Tom Petty, comedian Jerry Lewis, comedian and actor Don Rickles, music pioneer Chuck Berry, and Norma McCorvey, who was the later-regretful anonymous plaintiff “Jane Roe” in the landmark Supreme Court Case Roe v. Wade.

Amidst of all of this news, HeinOnline has been expanding and changing! We’ve added new databases and new content, and implemented helpful resources to enhance your HeinOnline experience. Here’s a brief synopsis of what happened with HeinOnline in 2017!

New Databases

1. Multinational Sources Compared: A Subject and Jurisdiction Index

This unique finding aid is designed to direct researchers to sources that compare multiple jurisdictions on focused subjects. This is available in both print and database formats, exclusively through HeinOnline. These print and electronic sources contain full-text legislation, statutory citation, or other references to primary law. The database is updated 3 times annually, and the print is updated every 2-3 years. Read our announcement blog post for more details on this database. We offer a 15% discount on this database for any customers who subscribe to National Survey of State Laws or Subject Compilation of State Laws!

Screenshot of Multinational Sources Compared landing page

2. Reports of U.S. Presidential Commissions and Other Advisory Bodies

The first print and online resource of its kind! Reports of U.S. Presidential Commissions and Other Advisory Bodies by Louis W. Bookheim is a unique resource containing the most current and extensive listing of publications created by presidential advisory bodies. This collection aids researchers interested in U.S. history, political science, and law in discovering and analyzing policies of the presidents. Presidential commission reports help determine administrative and political priorities of various administrations, as well as provide information on the development of contemporary laws and legislative history. This database is updated regularly and includes related hearings, scholarly articles and more! For more details, read our announcement blog post.

Screenshot of Reports of U.S. Presidential Commissions and Other Advisory Bodies landing page

3. History of Capital Punishment

This extraordinary scholarly resource includes content from Eugene G. Wanger’s groundbreaking and unique bibliography on this timely and controversial topic. This database provides a comprehensive overview of the history of death penalty legislation and includes The Eugene G. Wanger and Marilyn M. Wanger Death Penalty Collection. This incredible collection also includes Wanger’s testimony at numerous hearings opposing bills attempting to reinstate the death penalty, as well as brochures, posters, photographs, and short articles. Read our blog post announcement for more details.

Screenshot of the History of Capital Punishment landing page

4. SAGE Journal Packages

A new partnership with SAGE Publishing brought select SAGE journal content into HeinOnline. There are 34 titles found in the Law Journal Library with a three-year embargo, which were added at no additional charge. To view current content for these journals, customers are able to purchase these four new databases:

Read our blog post announcement for more details regarding these new packages.

Screenshot of SAGE Criminal Justice Package landing page

5. Edward Elgar Publishing Law Package

HeinOnline has also partnered with Edward Elgar Publishing. Users can access Edward Elgar’s legal journals in the Law Journal Library with a three-year embargo at no additional charge. To view current content of these journals, customers can purchase the Edward Elgar Publishing Law Package. This opens access to current content on both Elgaronline and HeinOnline. View our blog post announcement for more details on the journals included in this database.

Screenshot of Edward Elgar Publishing Law Package landing page

6. McGill Institute of Air and Space Law Publications

A partnership with The McGill Institute and Centre of Air and Space Law has brought a new space law database to HeinOnline. This database includescomplete coverage of Annals of Air and Space Law, which is available digitally for the first time. Users can also find this title in the Law Journal Library with a three-year embargo but customers will need to purchase the database to view current content. Read our blog post announcement for more details.

Screenshot of McGill Institute of Air and Space Law Publications landing page

7. Standard Federal Tax Reporter

The Standard Federal Tax Reporter contains a comprehensive collection of federal income tax information, such as full text of all proposed, temporary and final federal income tax law regulations, as well as full text of federal administrative rulings and documents. HeinOnline coverage is from 1917 through 1985. Due to agreement terms with Wolters Kluwer, this publication is available only to academic institutions via subscriptions to HeinOnline’s Taxation & Economic Reform in American Parts I and II. For more details on this latest database, read our blog post announcement.

Screenshot of Standard Federal Tax Reporter landing page

New Features

1. Quimbee Video Series

Quimbee is a company determined to further the success of law students nationwide by providing study aids such as case briefs, guides to writing exams, outlines for popular law school courses, and videos. Quimbee created a series of training videos covering different topics such as how to log into HeinOnline, how to create a MyHein account, how to search, and much more! Users can find these videos on our YouTube channel or access them via our Knowledge Base. Access our blog post announcement for more details.

Screenshot of a Quimbee Video on HeinOnline Interface

2. HeinOnline Knowledge Base

We created a fully searchable Knowledge Base for HeinOnline which contains videos, training guides and hundreds of articles about using the database. Six popular categories appear on the homepage, and others are accessible by clicking them from within search results. As you enter your search terms, results will auto-fill as you type. You may then select any suggested article about your topic. Easily access the Knowledge Base from the Help drop-down menu on any page in HeinOnline. For more information, view our blog post announcement.

3. Session Laws Library Indexing

The HeinOnline Session Laws indexing project continues! All 50 states are indexed to the chapter or act level from 2000 to current. Now we are indexing back to inception, beginning with the most accessed states first. So far, California, New York, Maryland, Florida, Illinois, and Ohio are completed. We are currently working on Georgia. To search using the chapter/act, use the Session Laws Quick Locator found at the Session Laws Library homepage. For more detailed information, see our recent blog post on this project.

Screenshot of the Session Laws Library landing page showing the Quick Locator tool

4. Infinite Scrolling

After analyzing the way researchers use search results, we learned that most users do not venture beyond the first page of results. In order to more intuitively display a greater number of search results, an infinite scroll feature is now available. Users can scroll through search results until the results set is exhausted. While scrolling, users have the option to bookmark documents to MyHein, save search queries, and email selected search results. This option will appear on the bottom left side of the screen. Is this feature not for you? No problem! Turn off infinite scroll by clicking on the icon next to the binoculars in the search results. For more information, view our blog post announcement.

Screenshot of HeinOnline search results showing the Infinite Scroll toggle button

5. Links to GPO Authenticated PDFs

With the digital release of the GPO’s authenticated PDFs of the Congressional Record, users are now given the option to view the HeinOnline version of these documents, or to view the authenticated archival version directly from the GPO. The text and pagination in both versions are identical, as they’re both scanned replicas of the original. The HeinOnline version is available in black & white, fully searchable, and provides users with inline linking to previous citations various federal content in HeinOnline. The GPO’s version is available in government archival quality, fully searchable, but does not include the advantage of inline linking. Access these PDFs within a Congressional Record document or within search results. View this blog post for more information.

This feature is also available in the Federal Register Library. Users can access the 1990-1994 high resolution PDF versions from the GPO in the upper right-hand corner of the page or within search results. View this blog post for more information.

Screenshot of a Congressional Record showing the GPO Authenticated PDF button

6. New MyHein Features

Users can easily sort by title and date in their MyHein account. All bookmarks in a tab may also now be selected simultaneously for emailing, exporting, or deleting. Additionally, bookmarked journal articles are now compatible with Digital Measures and may be exported as a BibTeX file. Simply select the desired bookmarks and choose Export to BibTeX from the options drop-down menu located above the list of bookmarks. To learn more about this, view our blog post announcement.

7. Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing Tools

HeinOnline has new research tools and concepts that will help both novice and experienced researchers make the most of its content. Using natural language processing and machine learning tools, combined with custom concepts specific to HeinOnline’s incredible scope and range of content, the tool aims to vastly improve discoverability of relevant content.

More Like This: More Like This uses a program which finds “interesting words” in an article, as determined by an algorithm that analyzes the article’s text. Review the list of similar articles and adjust the boost factor on the interesting words as determined by the More Like This algorithm, or enter new terms to change the scope of the results. Find this tool in the Law Journal Library, ABA Law Library Collection Periodicals, Bar Journals Library, and Kluwer Law International Journal Library.
Keyword Search Builder: This tool can be found within the Advanced Search option of the Law Journal Library, ABA Law Library Collection Periodicals, Bar Journals Library, and Kluwer Law International Journal Library. To use this tool, enter keywords into one or more of the boxes provided. Adjust the weight of each word using the boost factors. Users can also select a title to search within or enter a date range to narrow down the search results.
Topics and Entities: Using the same natural language processing and machine learning tools as the More Like This feature, as well as previously categorized articles, topics were applied to all articles in HeinOnline. Entities were also extracted, including location, person, and organization. Search faceting for this new metadata are available, enabling researchers to select material based on these criteria. Search results are also enhanced to include even more relevant articles.

See our very first blog post on the More Like This button and Keyword Search Builder here. This blog post discusses Topic and Entity facets. Lastly, this blog post discusses our expansion of these tools!

8. New Citation Format

A new citation format is available in HeinOnline thanks to a user’s suggestion. The Oxford University Standard for the Citation of Legal Authorities (OSCOLA) is now available as a citation format. Although originally designed for use within Oxford University, OSCOLA is now used by law schools throughout the UK and overseas, and by a number of legal journals and publishers.

Screenshot of Citation Formats available in HeinOnline

9. New Catalog Feature

Users are able to browse thousands of catalog subjects in HeinOnline. The Subjects tool can be found under the Catalog tab within any database. This subject coding is at the title level and can be used to browse subjects and look for documents on a specific subject. These browsable subjects driven from Cassidy Cataloging’s MARC records.

Screenshot of the Catalog tab within HeinOnline

10. Title Alerts

Users can be alerted when titles with certain terms or keywords are added to HeinOnline each month. To utilize this feature, simply save a catalog search query to a MyHein account. When new titles are added to HeinOnline with these terms, the user will be notified via email. For more details, read our blog post announcement.

Screenshot of setting up title alerts in HeinOnline

11. CASA Enabled in HeinOnline

HeinOnline partnered with Google Scholar to enable Campus-Activated Subscriber Access (CASA). CASA, which means ‘house’ in Spanish, allows off-campus and mobile users to access HeinOnline material found through Google Scholar seamlessly, exactly as though the user is accessing via authenticated IP ranges on-campus. With CASA, students can begin their research in a campus library and continue to access HeinOnline content discovered on-campus from home without the hassle of logging in through a proxy server or web portal, provided they use the same device each time. Users must access HeinOnline on-campus at least every 14 days to maintain off-campus access. View this blog post for more detailed information.

12. Two New Author Profile Alerts

Users are able to receive email alerts when works by authors of their choice are accessed by other HeinOnline researchers. To set up alerts, click on Set up email alerts within an author profile page and select When articles are accessed on HeinOnline each month. For more information regarding this feature, view this blog post. Additionally, users can also receive email alerts when articles are added to HeinOnline that are similar to those written by a specific author. For detailed instructions on how to set up this alert, view this blog post.

13. Email Selected Catalog Search Results

Users can email selected catalog search results. This feature is perfect for sharing title lists with students and colleagues. Accounts that are properly branded with proxy information can receive both direct links and proxy links. Within search results, choose the titles desired to be emailed by checking the boxes on the left side of the list. Additionally, choose Email Selected Results from the drop-down box and click Save/Email. View our more detailed blog post to learn more.

Screenshot of Emailing selected titles within a catalog search result page

14. Citation Data Extraction

Users can now download a CSV of ScholarCheck metrics for an entire institution. Within the Law Journal Library, Browse by Author Profiles. When users click on the institution’s name, all authors who have enhanced their Author Profile will be provided below, as well as a link to download a CSV of ScholarCheck metrics for all of the enhanced profiles from the institution. For detailed information, see this recent blog post.

Screenshot of Citation Data extracted from HeinOnline

15. Restatement Section Locator Tool

Find the Restatement Section Locator tool on the American Law Institute Library homepage. To use this tool, choose the Restatement name from the drop-down menu and enter the section number. Users are then directed to the page on which the section begins. For more detailed information, view this blog post.

Screenshot of the Restatement Selection Locator tool within the American Law Institute Library

16. Self-Citation Metric

A self-citation metric has been added to Author Profile pages. This metric counts the cumulative number of times that an author has cited his or her own work. It is not factored into the overall ScholarCheck ranking analysis, nor does it affect the overall citation count. This created quite the buzz on Twitter. Check out this blog on self-citations and why this is somewhat controversial.