Over the vacation, LexisLibrary introduced a new platform for its foreign and international materials. As holders of an Oxford SSO this means access to a variety of both primary and secondary sources from Australia, Canada, India, Hong Kong, Malaysia , New Zealand, Singapore, and the United States. Lexis is not the only database for foreign jurisdictions – for more information see our Libguides for Jurisdictions and Areas.
It has not been without its teething problems. (Please do report any problems to us at law.ref@bodleian.ox.ac.uk )
The first change to note is that when you have clicked on the Sources link, the page that opens now offers a link to International Content
Click on International Content – by which Lexis really means foreign and international
As
well as deciding on Cookies, you will be asked to accept Terms and Conditions – there is a link so that you can read the Online License Agreement in full.
UPDATE 23 April 2019 – we have been assured by Lexis that the issue requiring the following workaround has been fixed. But I will leave this paragraph with it in here but within [ ] … just in case!
[If you are off-campus/not on VPN and you don’t seem to be able to access the International Content at all, please open an incognito or private window (chrome – ctrl+shift+n; on firefox/IE ctrl+shift+p) and use this link www.lexisnexis.com/uk/legal/international/mip/CXJQ4457833]
You should now see a page which has a top like this. (Although the view from space is centred on the Mediterranean this is not a clue to the subscribed sources.) The first think to note is that search box on the top of the photograph works independently from the Browse Source options below it.
When you click on the drop down arrow to the right of Australia Cases you get options to specify the type of Australian source you want to search (to move away from a case search click on one of the other options) – or to initiate a search in one of the other jurisdictions. In the top half of the page Secondary Materials describes commentary (law journals & books) – but for the USA these have become Analytical Materials.
The most opaque/bizarre feature of the current iteration – surely this will change – is that the ICJ material International Court of Justice Filings, International Court of Justice Advisory Opinions, International Court of Justice Judgments are within the section called
US Administrative Materials.
The lower half of the page Analytical Materials ( as a description for secondary materials) has become widespread!
To use this Browse function – first click on whichever jurisdiction you are interested in. Below I have clicked India. If you know the title of the Indian source you want you can use the Search for a Source box – or you can click on the individual letters of the alphabet. However just because these letters are all hyperlinked doesn’t mean that there is a work beginning with that letter. (Continuing with India as example, there are no resources under X, Y, Z or # – but V has Venkateswaran on Trade Marks And Passing-Off & Vithalbhai B Patel : Law on Industrial Disputes)
When you have a source that you wish to read highlighted in the left hand column – then the right hand column offers a search within the source or a hyperlinked table of contents for books or lists of years for other sources meaning you can drill down to particular content.
