HeinOnline

HeinOnline is a digital legal research platform produced by William S. Hein & Co., Inc., a legal publisher based in Buffalo, New York. Since its introduction in the 1990s, it has become a comprehensive online library focused on law and legal history. The service provides searchable access to a broad range of primary and secondary materials, including full-text law journals, legal classics, government documents, treaties, and international law materials, as well as historical legislative histories. Its holdings are organized into collections such as the Law Journal Library, Treaties and International Law Library, U.S. Federal Legislative History Library, and other subject-specific and regional repositories. In addition, HeinOnline offers digitized historical texts, including early legal treatises and court reports, through the Legal Classics Vault and related resources.

Access is typically provided through institutional subscriptions via libraries and universities; researchers may gain access through participating institutions or special programs. The platform supports advanced search capabilities, rich bibliographic metadata, citation export, and persistent URLs to facilitate scholarly work. Content is delivered as high-quality scanned page images, with text recognition where available, enabling precise reproduction of original documents and reliable citation.

Scholarly use: widely adopted by law schools, universities, government agencies, and research libraries for legal history, statutory research, and international law studies. HeinOnline is considered a major resource in academic and professional legal research, supporting both teaching and scholarship.