

Google has removed the link to the "best" version of Google Scholar - MWil
http://scholar.google.ca/advanced_scholar_search?hl=en&sciui=2&as_sdt=0,5
I have used Google Scholar for the past 3 years to do free and quick legal research.  My school gives us access to very expensive alternatives like WestLaw and Lexis Nexis but that doesn't help much except people who then go on to work at firms that can afford unlimited subscriptions to these services.&#60;p&#62;In that same period, I have watched Google Scholar actually regress in it's usefulness.  I understand that it is not called Google Legal Research but the updates to the search format since I started using it have actually made it harder to do the type of research I need as I have learned to get better.  The only "improvement" I've seen is to literally remove old improvements.&#60;p&#62;Up until at least last week, they allowed you to revert back to the old look with a link on the main Scholar page.  That link now appears to be gone and I hope that they will not remove the feature completely since the old link location itself still works.&#60;p&#62;Google needs to, at a minimum, put the option of using the "old" version and, optimally, should reinstate the "old" version as the "new new" version plus some actual improvements.
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MWil
I have used Google Scholar for the past 3 years to do free and quick legal
research. My school gives us access to very expensive alternatives like
WestLaw and Lexis Nexis but that doesn't help much except people who then go
on to work at firms that can afford unlimited subscriptions to these services.

In that same period, I have watched Google Scholar actually regress in it's
usefulness. I understand that it is not called Google Legal Research but the
updates to the search format since I started using it have actually made it
harder to do the type of research I need as I have learned to get better. The
only "improvement" I've seen is to literally remove old improvements.

Up until at least last week, they allowed you to revert back to the old look
with a link on the main Scholar page. That link now appears to be gone and I
hope that they will not remove the feature completely since the old link
location itself still works.

Google needs to, at a minimum, put the option of using the "old" version and,
optimally, should reinstate the "old" version as the "new new" version plus
some actual improvements.

