Dialog on Westlaw: Different, Better, or the Same?

This article reports on the addition of Dialog in Westlaw computer assisted legal research (CALR) service. The availability of Dialog databases on Westlaw raises many questions. Why did Westlaw and Dialog decide to collaborate? Are there advantages to searching Dialog on Westlaw? Is it more efficient and effective to search Dialog on Diolog? What does this mean for law librarians and other legal information professionals? Exploring the answers to these questions should help legal researchers make a proper assessment of a powerful new force in the CALR marketplace. Over the past couple of decades the nature, definition and importance of legal research has grown. Today, the issues over which litigation can arise are as varied and complex as daily life. Many attorneys and legal researchers are often faced with trying to become knowledgeable about a business, client, product, industry, drug, medical procedure, or some other discipline or subject area that was not covered in their law school curriculum. Consequently, types of research more commonly referred to as business, general news, market, or medical research at times may also constitute legal research.