The University of Alabama School of Law
The University of Alabama School of Law
Below are some tips for crafting effective searches. This includes what to consider when crafting searches, natural language, terms & connectors, tips to refine searches, and advanced searching.
| JURISDICTION | Find out if you need to examine federal or state, court or administrative decisions, regulatory or legislative sources, or some combination. |
| USEFUL TIPS | The assigning attorney may know of experts in the field, recent publications, or internal documents that could help you. Try to get names of people, and copies of/citations to documents. |
| SCOPE | How much information is the assigning attorney looking for? Should your research be exhaustive or just an overview? |
| TERMS OF ART | Ask the assigning attorney if any terms of art may be applicable for the research. Knowing the right terminology can save time, effort, and money. |
| ACRONYMS |
Clarifying the spelling and meaning of acronyms. Attorneys in specialized fields tend to throw these around without realizing they may be meaningless to those new to the field. |
| SOURCES | As an expert, the assigning attorney should know the 'go to' sources of research in the field. Ask for titles of key journals, treatises, and databases. |
| KEY COST CONSTRAINTS | Is the client a stickler on certain charges, such as Westlaw or Lexis? How many hours should you be billing on this project? Find out before you start. |
Natural language searching is simply creating plain English sentences or the use of freely associated terms as your search. The search engine or database then uses advanced algorithms to parse your search and attempt to provide results that match your request. Natural language searches tend to be broader than terms and connectors searches, but you sacrifice control over your results.
When to use natural language searches:
Terms and Connectors searches provide more control to the researcher by enabling him or her to define the relationships between each search term. This type of search builds off Boolean logic commands but also includes Terms and Connectors commands, often unique to a specific database. Remember that a "space" between words is considered an "or" by the database.
When to use terms and connectors searching:
Below is a chart of possible terms and connectors you may use, what they mean, and what to use for Bloomberg, Lexis, and Westlaw
| COMMAND | BLOOMBERG | LEXIS | WESTLAW |
| AND (inclusion) | AND | and, & | AND, & |
| OR (alternative) | OR | or |
OR |
| Not (exclusion) | NOT | % | % |
| In the same sentence | S/ | /s | /s |
| In the same paragraph | P/ | /p | /p |
| Exact phrase | "..." | "..." | "..." |
| Within "n" terms of | n/ | /n | /n |
| Root expander | ! | ! | ! |
| Universal character (wildcard) | * | ? | * |
Do not forget you can refine results in both Lexis and Westlaw by using "Search Within Results" and other filters on the left side of the search results screen. Not only does this type of search let you refine your initial search, but it is also more cost effective than running multiple searches. In other words, if you decide your initial search yields a large number of results, consider using "Search Within" to narrow down your results to a more manageable number. (Under most plans, this will not generate a new search charge, whereas you would be charged again if you started over and ran an entirely new search.)
This option is also a good way to combine different search types. For example, you can first search cases for terminology keyed to legal rules and doctrines and then search within those results using terminology keyed to factual issues. This method will help ensure you find cases stating the broader rules first before finding cases similar to the facts of your situation.
Both Lexis and Westlaw enable researchers to enter an "Advanced Search" menu. This menu is keyed to specific resource types (i.e. cases, statutes, or regulations) and can be a useful way to boost the relevancy of your search. Advanced search enables you to search terms in source-specific, pre-defined "Fields" (Westlaw) or "Segments" (Lexis+). For example, you can find cases with a specific term in the "Holding" field or find statutes or regulations that were amended in a specific year by using the "History" segment.
If you get stuck or need assistance in moving forward with searching, most databases provide a link to some form of searching tips. See below for tips on how to find the search assistance for Westlaw, Lexis+ and Bloomberg Law.
You will see a link titled "Searching Tips" at the very end of the search bar.
Lexis has a link for "Help" at the top right of the page. If you select it, it will redirect you to another page where you can find an article titled "Creating Searches with Connectors, Commands, Segments, and Dates" in the "Featured Articles" section.
On Bloomberg Laws main page, look to the top right of the screen for the "Help" tab. If you click it you'll be given two options, of which you'll want to select "Help Center." After arriving at the "Help Center," look for the "Browse Help" section and find "Search & Browse." This link will direct you to a page with tons of searching and browsing tips if you need help getting started or getting around the site.