Westlaw NZ has been undergoing a progressive upgrade to its features and design in response to customer feedback.  A number of enhancements are scheduled for release on the evening of 4 September 2013.

Set out below is a preview of the new features. To download a PDF of these enhancements, click:  Westlaw NZ September upgrades.

Summary of enhancements                                          

Homepage

The Westlaw NZ Home page has been redesigned to provide a better browsing experience and to make linking to products, Search Templates and documents easier:

• an enhanced Table of Contents (TOC) has been introduced to facilitate browsing and searching
• left-hand pane is introduced to provide quicker access to Search Templates and other tools
• the new Quick Links feature is added to the left-hand pane, allowing users to customise Westlaw with the products or documents they use most often (see below for more details)
• “Browse by” drop-down menu moved to right side of page

Browsing and searching using the Table of Contents

The technology that powers the Table of Contents (TOC) has been significantly improved, providing a much better browsing and searching experience.  Users can now move more freely and quickly through the TOC using the +/- icons without waiting for the page to reload.

In addition, it is now easier to search from the TOC – select products or documents from the TOC and combine in a search using the Basic Search Template.

Clicking on a product name in the TOC will display the advanced search template for that product.

Click on a document in the TOC, and the TOC will move to the left-hand pane and the document will display on the right-hand pane.

Advanced Search Templates

The Advanced Search Templates can now be accessed quickly from the “Search Templates” link which appears on the left-hand pane on the Home page and other pages.

A number of improvements have been made to the Advanced Search Templates, without changing the search fields available.  Instead of being displayed below the Advanced Search Template, the TOC is now displayed in the left-hand pane, improving the ability to browse and select elements of the TOC while conducting an Advanced Search.

All search fields are now displayed in the Advanced Search Template, without the need to click “More options”.

Users who prefer to see the TOC in a wide view can click and drag the margin of the left-hand pane to expand it, or use the Home page where the TOC is shown in the right hand pane.

Document Display and Document in Context

The Document Display view now provides easy access to Advanced Search Templates and Quick Links on the left-hand pane, while the new “You are in” feature shows your location.

The new Document in Context feature expands the TOC to show the location of the document being viewed.  This allows users to easily see the context of the document and what other documents sit above and below it, enabling users to quickly move to other documents of interest.

Search Results View

When viewing search results, the left-hand pane contains a number of tools to help you refine your search or navigate to other content:

• Move quickly from search results to browse or conduct another search without having to return to the Home page by selecting:
  • Browse Westlaw – displays the full Table of Contents
  • Advanced Search Templates – displays all Advanced Search Templates
  • Quick Links – displays the user’s own personalised Quick Links
  • Search Summary displays the terms that have been searched for and lets you edit your search or conduct a new search, while the number of result documents is shown at the top of the list of Search Results

Filters on the left-hand pane show the number of results within each category.

Quick Links

Quick Links allows password and OnePass users to personalise Westlaw NZ to provide quick access to specific products or documents:

• Select the default Quick Links from the “How do I add Quick Links” wizard or add specific products or documents from the TOC using the “Add to My Quick Links” icon 
• Remove Quick Links using the “Delete Quick Link” icon
• Quick Links can also be managed using the Quick Links folder in My Folders.

Document Delivery Icons

The document delivery icons have been updated to make them more intuitive and consistent with other Thomson Reuters services.

Navigation Bar

The navigation bar has been redesigned to make it clearer and to allow space for future enhancements, with features used less often, such as Help, History, Preferences, Client ID, and Feedback, moved to the top of the screen.

Help Menu and New Training Page

The Help button on Westlaw NZ’s menu bar now links through to our new training site, http://training.thomsonreuters.co.nz/, which provides richer help information for all Thomson Reuters products.  Here, users will find how-to guides and other information and can attend webinars to find out more about all Westlaw NZ’s content and features.

Minimum Specifications

To support these new functions, we recommend the following minimum software specifications:

• Windows XP or later
• Internet Explorer 8 or later or Firefox 4 or later
• 1280 x 1024 or higher screen resolution
• JavaScript enabled in the browser.

Click to download a printable PDF of this update.

For personal assistance with Westlaw NZ, or any of our products, please call 0800 10 60 60 to speak to a member of our Customer Care team.