1. At the beginning of your search--for background information
2. To look up a discrete piece of information
- find a case/statute/regulation by citation
- look up an article by name
- locate a person by name
3. To pinpoint a citation for a case/statute/regulation to run through a citator on Westlaw/Lexis
4. To generate search terms
5. To locate news articles about a topic
6. To locate contact or other directory information for a person or business
1. Authoritativeness/Accuracy—who’s the author/publisher?
2. Bias—is there an agenda?
3. Comprehensiveness
4. Timeliness—when was it last updated?
5. Interface design/user friendliness
-How can you search?
-Can you narrow or expand your results?
6. Editorial features
-Commentary?
-Links to additional resources?
-Other ways to expand your research?
The American Association of Law Libraries has put together additional criteria and searching tips that you may want to consider.