Even though 2021 brought year two of the pandemic, it also brought reunions with loved ones. Travel slowly picked back up, masks came off (well, for a short period of time), and TikTok kept us entertained. As we wait to see what 2022 holds, let’s take a look back at some notable events that happened in the past 12 months:
- Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol building to disrupt the counting of electoral votes and protested the assumed win of Joseph R. Biden Jr.
- Catastrophic flooding in western Europe brought two months’ worth of rain, killing more than 200 people.
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine for the U.S., the first of three authorized vaccines.
- In an effort to reverse falling birth rates, the Chinese government announced they would allow couples to have up to three children.
- The Supreme Court of the United States issued a shadow docket refusing to block a controversial Texas law banning abortion after six weeks.
- The Taliban took control of Kabul, almost two decades after they were driven out by U.S. troops.
- Kyle Rittenhouse was acquitted of all charges after fatally shooing two people during civil unrest in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Several iconic entertainers passed away, including legendary TV star Betty White, comedian Norm Macdonald, CNN host Larry King, and Grammy-nominated rapper DMX. Other notable deaths include children’s book authors Beverly Cleary and Eric Carle; poet, author, feminist and professor bell hooks; Sarah Weddington, the attorney in the landmark Roe v. Wade case; and Colin Powell, a trailblazing military leader. The sports world also lost legendary football coach and broadcaster John Madden and Hank Aaron, the Baseball Hall of Famer who broke Babe Ruth’s all-time home run record.
Amidst all this breaking news, HeinOnline continued to expand. We returned to our headquarters in Buffalo, NY and worked diligently to bring you new and exciting content. What’s more, we introduced our new, intuitive one-box search. In 2021 alone, HeinOnline had more than 10 million searches and more than 1.52 billion hits! Our dedicated Support Team logged 12,500 hours of live support, helping customers during 1,487 chats and nearly 1,000 phone calls! During that time, we also added new databases and content and implemented new search features. Here’s a brief synopsis of what happened with HeinOnline in 2021.
New Database
1. Military and Government
HeinOnline’s Military and Government allows users to research the functions of the federal government in administering these essential armed forces, as well as the issues confronting service personnel both on and off the battlefield—from women’s changing role in the military to the development of new weaponry to navigating benefits offered by the Department of Veterans Affairs after service. With funding to the Department of Defense making up the largest portion of the U.S. federal budget, users can also find publications devoted to debating and accounting for appropriations and other funds spent.
2. Open Society Justice Initiative
The Open Society Justice Initiative database brings the Justice Initiative’s scholarship to HeinOnline, providing access to works published by the Justice Initiative in HeinOnline’s fully searchable, image-based format. Unique to this collection is the ability to search by Publication Type, a publication identifier assigned by the Justice Initiative to each of its publications, which organizes their works into the following types: Briefing Paper, Publication, and Report. Browse titles in HeinOnline by Publication Type or use the facet to limit search results.
3. Air and Space Law
HeinOnline’s Air and Space Law database illustrates the history of air and spaceflight through the programs and people that made these dreams possible. Through the collection, users will see how governments and regulators reacted to new technologies, the accidents and disasters that prompted reform, and the new frontiers that await as technology advances at an improbable speed.
HeinOnline editors have analyzed and subject-coded every title in this collection, creating and assigning 29 unique subjects to help users find material most relevant to their research. Further categorizing the content, this entire collection is organized by Outer Space and Suborbital Space, separating titles dealing with matters on celestial bodies (Outer Space) from those concerned with earthbound air travel (Suborbital Space).
4. Bremer-Kovacs Collection: Historic Documents Related to the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946
Titled the Bremer-Kovacs Collection: Historic Documents Related to the Administrative Procedure Act of 1946, this is a comprehensive database designed to make the APA more accessible and understandable. Compiled by Kathryn E. Kovacs, Emily S. Bremer, and Charlotte D. Schneider, the content within the database helps contextualize this important piece of legislation. The database is rounded out with various tools to help researchers navigate the database, understand the documents in their rich historical context, and quickly identify the material most relevant to the user’s precise interests.
New Features
We are always looking for ways to improve users’ HeinOnline experience. In the past year the following new features have been added to HeinOnline:
Searching in HeinOnline received a long-awaited facelift with a new, intuitive one-box search.
Discover more than 1,500 multidisciplinary subjects with this suite of browse and search tools for subject-specific research.
Link your Google and MyHein accounts, allowing seamless access to your MyHein account when you enter HeinOnline.
Users can select a citation format to send within an email, which also now includes a permalink and proxy permalink.
Courtroom Insight integration brings a comprehensive platform including expert witness profiles organized into logical and intuitive categories of expertise.
2021 HeinOnline Hits
This year we’re breaking down the usage of HeinOnline to bring you the most accessed articles, databases, and more!
Other Notable Content Additions
Since January 2021, HeinOnline has added:
- 7,355,432 pages, bringing the total page count to 198,335,568
- 109 new journals
- 6,268 congressional documents
- 3,388 CRS Reports
- 1,304 legal classics
- 1,136 GAO opinions
- 871 titles to Taxation and Economic Reform in America: Parts I & II
- 494 titles to U.S. International Trade Library
- 249 titles to Religion and the Law
- 221 titles to Immigration Law & Policy in the U.S.
- 206 titles to Indigenous Peoples of the Americas: History, Culture & Law
- 90 federal legislative histories
New titles and new content for existing titles continue to be added and milestones continue to be reached, including:
The Law Journal Library surpassed 3,000 journals
HeinOnline turned 21 and to celebrate we gave away a $500 Visa® gift card
Several new titles from Emerald Publishing were added to the Law Journal Library
Associate Justice Kavanaugh’s nomination hearings were added to History of Supreme Court Nominations
Eight state session laws were indexed back to inception, including Arizona, Wisconsin, Oregon, Kentucky, Colorado, New Hampshire, Oklahoma, and North Carolina
Several new journal issues from Oxford University Press became available, bringing nearly 20 years of new content into HeinOnline
Three new journals were added to the Edward Elgar Publishing Law Package
We renamed the “American Indian” database to a more appropriate name: Indigenous Peoples of the Americas: History, Culture & Law
National Survey of State Laws received an update including new and updated chapters.
Welsh Legal History Society Publications were added to the Selden Society Publications and the History of Early English Law database
For a quick visual summary, check out this infographic!
Despite the events happening worldwide, we had another great year and would like to thank our loyal customers for their continued support. Stay tuned to see what’s new in 2022!
For questions or for help using HeinOnline, contact our dedicated support team at (800) 277-6995, email us, or chat with us!
