Greg Lambert over at 3 Geeks and a Law Blog brings up a very good point about the importance of being able to research across different platforms (Lexis, Westlaw, Bloomberg, etc...):
[D]on't let students fall into the vendor's trap of only learning one platform. The law student[s] that . . . haven't activated their Lexis IDs because they like to use Westlaw better (or vice-versa) have played into the hands of the vendor at the expense of their own experience. Those students that go to their Summer Associate jobs this year and use their Bloomberg passwords to do firm work (which apparently Bloomberg is allowing them to do), are making a tactical error in their understanding how the law firm works, recovers costs, and tracks expenses of the work performed. Students should take the opportunity to learn a broad variety of resources while in school because never again will they have access to so many platforms with no pressure to think about the cost of the product.
One of the biggest mistakes I made as a law student was to do most of my research on one platform. When I went to a firm that didn't use that platform at all and that didn't offer intensive research support from paralegals or librarians, it was stressful. I managed, but I sure wished that I had been a more flexible researcher in law school when cost didn't matter!