HeinOnline: More Than Meets the Eye!

By Alan Kilpatrick

You likely know that HeinOnline is a popular online legal journal database accessible directly through the Law Society Members’ Resource Section.  It provides access to an abundance of legal journals, more than 2000 titles, from Canada, the United States, and the Commonwealth.  What you might not know is that there is far more to HeinOnline than meets the eye!

We recently received this comment from a member about HeinOnline:

“I use Hein at least once a week, and it’s rarely for the articles.  It’s the statutes that I use it for.  It’s an excellent source for statute law.  But, people don’t know about it.  I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve advised people to look on Hein for statute research, and they’re surprised to know that resource even exists.”   

In the past, we’ve written on this blog about HeinOnline’s growing coverage of historical case law, legislation, and secondary legal sources.  For example, did you know that, among many other things, you can use HeinOnline to:

• Access American case law,
• Generate instant citations,
• Browse over 300 legal dictionaries, and
• Locate historical legislation?

Notably, HeinOnline features an impressive collection of historical legislation from Canada, the United States, and the United Kingdom.  Once you access HeinOnline, select your jurisdiction from the browsable menu at the top of the screen.  Coverage is Canadian legislation is particularly impressive:

• Federal Revised Statutes: 1886 to 1985
• Federal Annual Statutes: 1792 to 2018
• Saskatchewan Revised Statutes: 1909 to 1978
• Saskatchewan Annual Statutes: 1906-1968

Rather than being a mere journal database, HeinOnline is a true online law library.  Do yourself a favour and spend some time taking a tour of HeinOnline’s many offerings.  The browsable menu (Browse Databases by Category) is a great way to learn about all of the content that can be accessed!

If you have any questions about legal research or resources, ask a Law Society Librarian! We are pleased to provide high-quality assistance to Saskatchewan members in person, on the telephone, or by email.

Email reference@lawsociety.sk.ca
Call 306-569-8020 in Regina
Toll-free 1-877-989-4999