Expert Witnesses

General search engines, like Bing and Google, can find a wide array of material. Search engines use algorithms to find and display results. Different search engines, and even the same search engine accessed from different locations, may retrieve slightly different results. Searches can be modified and/or restricted by using the advanced search feature.

For more search engines, see Wikipedia's List of Search Engines.

Social media technologies come in a variety of forms, including networking sites like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter, blog sites like Blogger, Tumblr, and WordPress, wikis and collaborative projects like Wikipedia, content communities like Pinterest and YouTube, and more. Certain social media technologies give the content creator privacy options. This means content may not be visible to all users.

Not all information freely available online can be found using traditional search engines like Bing or Google. A lot of information is buried underneath the surface, making it difficult for traditional search engines to retrieve it. Information in databases, catalogs, and other places is not easily accessed by search engines. This is commonly referred to as the invisible or deep web. For more information, see Wikipedia's Deep Web (search) article and The 12 Best Deep Search Engines to Explore the Invisible Web.

There are ways of searching out this information. Many of the sources included in this tab are ways of finding information from the invisible web. Below are three additional examples that could be used when researching an expert witness.

Colleges and Universities
Most colleges and universities have information regarding faculty members on their website. This information can include short bios, curriculum vitae, publications, research projects, class lists and syllabi, and videos.

Companies
Some companies list their employees on their website. The extent of information about employees on a website varies from company to company.

Healthcare Facilities
Healthcare facility websites often have directories of their doctors which may include photographs, contact information, professional certifications, educational background, and area of expertise

For more information regarding the invisible web and how to search it, see Don MacLeod, Google and the Deep Web, in How to Find Out Anything 29-39 (2012).

A search on Bing or Google on a specific topic may bring up individual websites or databases to search.

Try using Google's Advanced Search and limit the search to a specific company's or organization's URL. Though this is not the same as searching the invisible web, it may bring about more relevant results than a basic search.

Google Books
For more search options, use the Advanced Search feature.

Jenkins' Catalog
This is helpful when the person has a legal background. Catalog entries for publications from the Pennsylvania Bar Institute (PBI), the Practising Law Institute (PLI), and others will oftentimes include the chapter titles and authors. For more search options, use the Advanced Search feature.

Worldcat
This is helpful when the person is listed as the author or editor. For more search options, use the Advanced Search feature.

Jenkins' Interlibrary Loan Department works with other institutions to locate and deliver a variety of books and articles. Fees do apply. For more information, contact us at 215.574.7933 or documents@jenkinslaw.org.

Lexis
Available on the library's Lexis computers. Search String Example: John w/3 Smith

Westlaw
Available on the library's Westlaw computers. Search String Example: adv: John w/3 Smith

Bloomberg Law
Available on the library's Bloomberg Law computers. Search String Example: adv: John w/3 Smith

Fastcase
Member database available for law firms with less than 50 attorneys. Search String Example: John w/3 Smith

Google Scholar
Be sure to switch the search radio button to "Case law".

Other subscription services like Daubert Tracker, Expert Research on Demand (formerly IDEX), and TrialSmith collect court documents related to expert witnesses, including briefs and deposition testimony. Access to TrialSmith is restricted to plaintiff attorneys.

For additional information on searching cases, check out our Federal Caselaw, Pennsylvania Cases - Appellate Level, and Pennsylvania Cases - Trial Level research guides.

Congressional materials searching is helpful if a person was a witness in a Congressional Hearing or the author of a CRS Report.

govinfo U.S. Government Printing Office
Includes Congressional Documents, Hearings, and Reports. Available dates vary between document types. For more search options, use the Advanced Search feature.

ProQuest Congressional
Member database available for all Jenkins' members. Includes the Congressional Record, Hearings, Reports, and more. Available dates vary between document types. For more search options, use the Advanced Search feature. Search String Example: John NEAR/3 Smith

U.S. Congressional Documents HeinOnline
Member databases available to most Jenkins' members. Includes the Congressional Record, Hearings, CRS Reports, and more. Available dates vary between document types. For more search options, use the Advanced Search feature. Search String Example: John w/3 Smith

Select Congressional materials may also be available on Lexis, Westlaw, and Bloomberg Law.

For more information about searching congressional materials, take a look at our Congressional Documents research guide.

Verdicts and settlements are not published in court reporters and they cannot be found when searching sources based on case law.

Use our Verdicts & Settlements guide to find verdict and settlement sources available at Jenkins.

Medical information searching is helpful if a person has a medical background, including doctors and medical researchers.

Directory of Medical Experts Lewis L. Laska
Library has 1994 - present. A directory of medical experts as reported in Medical Malpractice Verdict, Settlement & Experts

PubMed
For more search options, use the Advanced Search feature.

Jenkins' Interlibrary Loan Department works with other institutions to locate and deliver a variety of books and articles, including medical publications. Fees do apply. For more information, contact us at 215.574.7933 or documents@jenkinslaw.org.

USPTO Patent Public Search Database U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Patent Public Search was created to replace USPTO's old databases, Pub EAST and Pub WEST, with a more robust online platform that provides the public access to search tools used by patent examiners. Both PPUBS Basic and Advance search interfaces use the same search engine to search the same document collection.  

The Basic Search interface is for conducting searches for issued U.S. patents and pre-grant publications. The Basic Search interface allows you to combine queries to retrieve documents based on the following data: applicant name, assignee name, attorney agent/firm, attorney name, patent/application publication number, inventor name, publication date ranges, keywords. This database is a "simplified interface recommended for users new to Patent Public Search." 

The Advanced Search interface lets you customize your workspaces and select databases. Includes a query box for more complex searching. Can use Boolean, perform field-specific queries, or full-text searching on documents using proximity operators. Learn more about the additional features the advanced search interface allows on their frequently asked questions page.  

General OneFile
Member database available for all Jenkins' members. Covers a variety of topics, including business, computers, current events, economics, education, environmental issues, health care, hobbies, humanities, law, literature, art, politics, science, social science, sports, technology, and many general interest topics. Publications vary in coverage dates. Publications vary in index and full text coverage.

Google Scholar
This is helpful if the person has an academic background. Can switch the default search radio button from "Articles" to "Case law" if the person has a legal background.

HeinOnline - Law Journal Library
Member database available to most Jenkins members. This is helpful if the person has a legal background. The release of new content for some publications is delayed due to the title's contract with HeinOnline. Coverage for most titles goes back to inception.

LegalTrac
Member database available for all Jenkins' members. This is helpful if the person has a legal background. Publications vary in coverage dates. Publications vary in index and full text coverage.

Lexis Law Reviews & Journals
Available on the library's Lexis computers. Selected full-text coverage, 1982-present

Westlaw Law Reviews & Journals
Available on the library's Westlaw computers. Includes a wide selection of law reviews and bar journals.

Databases like HighWire, Ingentaconnect, and PsycARTICLES® allow the user to search for free but charge for document retrieval.

Jenkins' Interlibrary Loan Department works with other institutions to locate and deliver a variety of books and articles, including business, medical, and technical publications, as well as conference proceedings, news articles, and more. Fees do apply. For more information, contact us at 215.574.7933 or documents@jenkinslaw.org.

Conferences hosted by professional associations frequently include research so new that it has not yet made it into scholarly peer-reviewed publications. Materials available for these proceedings vary by association and conference. Conference proceedings may be published in their entirety, the papers presented may be published individually, or authors may publish their papers through another source. Some conferences only publish abstracts, and some conferences don't publish anything.

Because of the variety of ways conference proceedings are published, there is no one database to search all conference proceedings. Google Scholar may be a good place to start as it searches scholarly papers that may include conference materials. It may also be beneficial to contact academic libraries as many of them have access to multiple databases that including conference proceedings. Academic libraries may have access restrictions and we recommend contacting them before visiting for their most up-to-date policy information.

Those who have citation information for a conference proceeding should start their research using the sources listed in the Periodical tab on this page.

Jenkins' Interlibrary Loan Department works with other institutions to locate and deliver a variety of books and articles, including business, medical, and technical publications, as well as conference proceedings, news articles, and more. Fees do apply. For more information, contact us at 215.574.7933 or documents@jenkinslaw.org.