Hein Online: is there anything it can’t do?

Hein Online is a database that covers so much. It is suitable for people with little or no legal research experience through to those with advanced skills.......By Caroline Knaggs

Conan O’Brien wrote the famous line “doughnuts, is there anything they can’t do?” for Homer Simpson in the episode Marge v The Monorail and it is tempting to apply the concept to Hein Online. This database covers so much (it is the world’s largest image-based legal research collection) and is so easy to use.

HeinOnline is divided into Libraries which cover specific collections of legal material. The most frequently used secondary sources library is the Law Journal Library, an archival collection (i.e. from vol. 1 issue 1 onwards) of law journals from around the world including the US Ivy League and all Australian law schools. Other secondary libraries to note are the Foreign and International Law Resources Database, the Intellectual Property Collection and the Phillip C. Jessup Library which contains international law materials for those involved with the Jessup moot. Hein’s Scholarcheck provides journal article citation details.

For primary sources, Hein contains the (UK) Statutes of the Realm (legislation beginning at the reign of King Henry III) to the current US Code and early UK and US case law through to current cases from the US Supreme Court and much more. US Cases are made easier to find using the Fastcase citator. The World Treaty Library brings treaties from a range of organizations together in one place.

The Search function provides a range of options and documents can be printed or downloaded as a PDF file.

Hein is suitable for people with little or no legal research experience through to those with advanced skills. New content is added monthly, making each search an adventure. HeinOnline: the “go-to” legal research database.

If you are a Monash staff or student, you have free access to HeinOnline as one of the Library’s many database subscriptions.

Caroline Knaggs, is a subject librarian and member of the Law faculty team

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