In “Heinsight”: Breaking Ground on Advocacy for Academic Library Database Trials Using HeinOnline

Abstract

HeinOnline is a legal research database much like NexisUni or Westlaw. HeinOnline is a commercial legal research database used for searching case law, law review articles, proceedings, government documents and more. The Albin O. Kuhn Library & Gallery (AOK), which is the heart of the research campus of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), which, at the time of writing this piece, subscribed to 446 databases, only one of which covered legal research. Though not a law library, AOK had been formerly using NexisUni from July 2017 to June 2023. The two authors, a faculty librarian and a library services specialist–decided to address this deficit by closely documenting the onboarding process of HeinOnline from trial to acquisition. At their institution, there has been little to no documentation recorded that outlined the necessary steps and checkpoints needed for a database trial. The Reference team noted that the previous database, NexisUni, was not only costly (especially at a university without a law program), but that the user interface and search functions could be improved. The authors recognized that, by closely documenting the process of offering a new database and measuring faculty and student engagement, they could establish the groundwork for standardizing database trials as well as provide insights for other librarians as they consider evaluating or adding new databases.