Remember: This is not a test, and the results will have no bearing on your future evaluations. Please respond based on your current knowledge, without using any outside resource for help. The survey should take 15 minutes or less to complete.
Please submit your response by Thursday, April 28. Contact me if you have any questions about the survey or about the library's summer training program. Thanks again for your help.
Have you ever participated in an advanced legal research and writing class sponsored by your law school or law school library, or during a previous summer program? Please describe those sessions, and let us know how long ago they were held:
3
Please estimate the time you typically spend preparing a research strategy:
less than 15 minutes
15-30 minutes
30-45 minutes
45 minutes plus
4
Estimate the percentage of time you generally spend using print and online resources to complete research projects (percentage totals should equal 100):
Print Percentage
Online Percentage
5
Rate your confidence level in effectively using each research tool listed. Please choose a number from 1 to 3 where 1 is "not confident" and 3 is "very confident."
1 Not Confident
2 Somewhat Confident
3 Very Confident
Electronic case citation tools (e.g., Shepard's, KeyCite, etc.)
Case digests
Legal encyclopedias
Treatises
Loose-leaf services
Federal statutes
Federal Register
Code of Federal Regulations
State codes
State administrative codes (regulations)
6
Which two of the following resource(s) would you use to update information from the Code of Federal Regulations?
Findlaw
Federal Register
Congressional Record
List of Sections Affected
7
Have you researched a statute’s legislative history? If yes, please indicate what type and your comfort level with the process:
Yes or No
Federal or State
Very Comfortable, Somewhat Comfortable, Not Comfortable
8
Where would you start research on a state regulatory question? Choose one:
A Case Digest
Lexis or Westlaw
A Legal Web Site (e.g., FindLaw)
The State’s Administrative Code
The Promulgating Agency’s Web Site
Other, Please Specify
9
Have you participated in this year's Lexis "Build Your Future" or Westlaw "Prepare to Practice" program? Please select both if you have participated in both.
Lexis "Build Your Future"
Westlaw "Prepare to Practice"
10
Corporate lawyers balance concerns of cost, time and quality throughout their lives as researchers. Here at the beginning of your research experience, please estimate the average cost of an online search using a premier search resource such as Lexis or Westlaw for the following kinds of databases:
Average cost per search for cases in a limited database (e.g.: a single state):
Average cost per search for cases in a very large database (e.g.: all state cases):
11
Have you researched case law using Lexis’s Search Advisor product or West’s KeySearch? If yes, please indicate which:
Yes
No
Lexis's Search Advisor
Westlaw's KeySearch
12
Have you ever used any online resource other than Lexis, Westlaw, or a free Internet source to answer a legal resource question? If so, which?
Yes or No
If so, which?
13
What are the top three general Internet search sites you use (e.g., Google, Yahoo)?
Site One:
Site Two:
Site Three:
14
What are the top three legal Internet sites you use (e.g., Findlaw, Washlaw)?
Site One:
Site Two:
Site Three:
15
Do you view the Internet generally as a reliable source for current legislative and regulatory information?
16
Have you ever had instruction in evaluating the quality of Web resources (e.g., authority, currency, objectivity, etc.)?
17
What aspect(s) of legal research do you see as your “weak area(s)” (e.g., regulatory research, case finding, legislative work, using secondary sources, etc.)? Would additional instruction be helpful?
18
Are there any legal research-related issues we didn't touch on in this survey that you'd like to see addressed? Please comment below and help make life easier for future survey participants:
19
If you have had instruction on legal research at Fried Frank in the past, what information did you find most helpful, and why? What would you like to see us do differently?
Thanks for your participation. Again, if you have any questions about the survey or about our legal research training program, please contact Cindy Carlson. See you this summer!
