Task-Based Research: Because Not All Researchers are 'Wired' Alike
By Bridget MacMillan
For many librarians, the systematic organization of information is one of the most appealing aspects of librarianship. We appreciate it when information is organized in a fashion that allows us to find what we need intuitively and precisely.
LexisNexis offers such a system, with resources arranged methodically with overarching subjects containing discrete sources. We call this organization the library/file method. An example is the NEWS library offers the Chicago Tribune® file. And we can understand this hierarchical structure quickly. If authority is critical to that resource, as in case law, the most authoritative resources are shown at the top of menu screens. In other areas, such as news, the list of sources may be alphabetical or determined by users, i.e., the most-often used sources listed first.
This structure makes sense to librarians; we think in terms of sources and hierarchies. But with the advent of the Web, and search engines like Google™ and Yahoo!®, the vast majority of searchers no longer think of a source first. Today’s generation of Google users may not find the LexisNexis hierarchical structure as intuitive.
LexisNexis is accommodating this new generation of searchers through the creation of task-based interfaces. These interfaces are designed around the tasks common in specific practice areas. For example, let’s look at the LexisNexis Research Tasks pages. They are located under the RESEARCH TASKS tab on the main lexis.com menu screen. The pages are organized according to Area of Law, Litigation and Jurisdiction. Choose the Medical Research Tasks page, and the first screen task box is titled Search Medical Sources and lists the five most-used sources, including the venerable Attorney’s Textbook of Medicine. (I got there in two clicks—Research Tasks page and then Medicine.)
LexisNexis Research Tasks pages were among the first LexisNexis attempts at organizing and presenting sources in a way different from “library/file.” And the Research Tasks pages have been embraced by many searchers. Building on this success, LexisNexis has created an interface that is task based—and walks users through each search task step by step. Welcome to LexisNexis® Total Litigator!
In LexisNexis Total Litigator, tasks in the litigation process are presented sequentially as well as the steps within each task. Under the Early Case Assessment tab, there is the task called Research Judges. Choose that task, and move to a screen with two steps. Enter the name of the judge in Step 1, and select the report you need in Step 2. The choices are clear … no guesswork.
Another example of task-based interfaces is the LexisNexis® Tax Center. (There is a feature article on LexisNexis Tax Center on page 07:047 of this issue.) This interface reflects the type of tax work done by tax practitioners, i.e., federal, state, and international. Another benefit is that a user can create “My Tax Center” and select an even more exact group of sources that they rely on—and have them in one handy area. It’s a wonderful feature that completely removes the chore of source selection (and retracing your clicks to get to the right source time after time).
LexisNexis recognizes that the library/file hierarchy is not intuitive for all users. By removing the need to select a source first, and by thinking about the tasks of various practitioners, LexisNexis hopes to increase the comfort and intuitiveness of many users—through different interfaces built around tasks or targeted source lists—so that results are on point.
Interested in seeing any of these interfaces in depth? Contact your LexisNexis Librarian Relations Consultant. Who knows? You may also be inspired to rethink your filing system or desk layout.
