I want to comment on Paul Lomio's query about creative uses of LEXIS and
WESTLAW for a professor giving a talk. Paul says he told the professor about
"Fred Shapiro's citation analysis." I've never actually used LEXIS or WESTLAW
for citation analysis (I've used Shepard's Law Review Citations and the Social
Sciences Citation Index). Richard Posner has used LEXIS for citation
analysis in his book, Cardozo: A Study in Reputation. As for creative uses,
I've done a lot with the databases in tracing the history and usage of words.
See 30 Jurimetrics Journal 147 for the best summary of my researches along
these lines. See also my book, LEXIS: The Complete User's Guide 158-60 for my
use of LEXIS to find the case and the law review article with the most
footnotes. I used LEXIS heavily in tracing the sources of quotations for my
recent book, The Oxford Dictionary of American Legal Quotations, but this is
such an obvious use I would hardly call it creative.
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