Run Successful Searches

There are three types of searches:

• Easy Search: Simple, but rarely accurate—similar to the "I’m feeling lucky" function in Google. We do not recommend it. Thus, it will not be discussed here.
• Natural Language: Like a Google search.
• Terms and Connectors: These searches can be very accurate, but require you to understand how to properly formulate your search queries.

Natural Language: Many people gravitate toward Natural Language searches since they are similar to using a common Internet search engine like Google or Yahoo. Simply enter your question, or a series of key words drawn from your fact pattern, and Lexis or West will retrieve a fixed number of results for you based on how frequently your terms appear in the results. This can be helpful if you are unfamiliar with a topic, or you are uncomfortable using Terms and Connectors, or if your Terms and Connectors search has been unsuccessful. However, Natural Language searches sometimes fail to give you comprehensive retrievals. Legal research requires comprehensive retrievals using multiple methods across several databases that give you an accurate picture of the law in its entirety. Thus, you should not rely only on a Natural Language search within one database.

• In a Natural Language search, you can simply type in your question.
  • Example: Is a school negligent if a student injures another student on school property?
• However, Lexis or West will only retrieve results based on the specific words that you enter in your search. If you are looking for a specific term of art, then you should not use synonyms.
• However, if you are researching a concept that could be discussed using varied language and terminology, expand your inquiry to include synonyms.
  • Example: Is a school negligent if a student or child injures another student or child on school property, the playground, school equipment, or in the classroom?

Terms And Connectors: These searches retrieve documents based upon the relationships between words. By using specific commands, you can instruct the search engine to locate documents that contain specific words in precise relationships to one another.

• Terms: These are the words that you want the search results to contain.
• Connectors: These words define the relationships between the terms.
  • The most common connectors are "AND" and "OR."
    • "AND" retrieves documents containing all of the listed terms.
      • Example: Search AND apartment
    • "OR" retrieves documents containing any of the listed terms.
      • Example: House OR Home
  • More advanced connectors define more specific relationships between terms.
    • "/P" indicates that listed terms should be within the same paragraph.
      • Example: "search /p apartment" (without quotes) will retrieve documents that have the word "search" within the same paragraph as the word "apartment."
    • "/S" indicates that listed terms should be within the same sentence.
      • Example: "search /s apartment" (without quotes) will retrieve documents that have the word "search" within the same sentence as the word "apartment."
    • "/N" indicates that listed terms should be within a certain number of words from each other.
      • Example: "search /5 apartment" will retrieve documents that have the word "search" within five words of "apartment.
    • "AND NOT" instructs the search to retrieve documents that include one term and exclude another.
      • Example: "apartment AND NOT house" (without quotes) will retrieve documents that have the word apartment but do not have the word house. Be cautious when you use this connector; you may inadvertently exclude cases that make legal distinctions based on the difference between these two terms.
  • For a list of common connectors, you can scroll to the bottom of your terms and connectors search page.
  • For a more comprehensive list of advanced connectors, click the hyperlinked text "More Connectors & Commands" underneath the list of common connectors.
• If you type in words without connectors between them, such as "PROBABLE CAUSE" (without quotes), Lexis will interpret it as a phrase and search for it as a single unit; West will treat the space as an "OR" and will search for PROBABLE or CAUSE. You should put set phrases like this in parentheses.
• Many of your search queries will involve more than two terms. A two-term search often retrieves too many documents. If your search returns more than approximately twenty results, you probably need to keep trying to tailor your search more narrowly. Keep manipulating the connectors: try "/p" or "/s" or "/N" instead of "and" to whittle your results down to the most relevant possible. Sometimes a topic (like the 4th Amendment) is naturally broad and you may simply have to browse through a results page that has more than twenty results.
  • When your search contains multiple terms and connectors, you need to be aware of the order in which you enter particular connectors. Connectors are applied in the following order:
    • OR
      • Proximity Connectors (/N, /P, /S)
      • AND
      • Exclusion Connectors (AND NOT, BUT NOT)
    • Understanding the hierarchy of connectors will help you formulate an effective search.
      • Example: "Search AND House OR Home" (without quotes) will be interpreted as follows:
        • House OR Home will process first, retrieving all documents with the word "House" or "Home."
        • From those documents, the search engine will look for documents that also contain the word "Search" and will ultimately retrieve only those documents.
    • You can segregate portions of your search with parentheses.
      • Example: (House AND Fence) OR Apartment
        • The search will retrieve documents with either the word "Apartment" or both the words "House" AND "Fence."
        • Without parentheses, the search "House AND Fence OR Apartment" (without quotes) would first look for documents with either "Fence" OR "Apartment" and would then look within those documents for documents that also contained the word "House." Thus, it would ultimately retrieve documents containing the words "House" and "Fence" or "House" and "Apartment."
  • A few simple steps can help you create an effective terms and connectors search.
    • Brainstorm potential search terms.
    • Expand your search terms.
      • Think of synonyms for your search terms because the search will only retrieve the exact words that you type in. If a case talks about your topic, but uses a different term, that case will not be retrieved, so it is best to cover all possible synonyms.
      • Use wildcard characters.
        • An "*" will substitute for any individual letter.
          • Example: Use "r*n" to retrieve documents that contain either "ran" or "run."
        • An "!" substitutes for variations on word endings.
          • Example: Use "Seiz!" to search for documents that contain either "seizure," "seizing," or "seized."
        • Note: Lexis and West do not automatically search for irregular plurals. Therefore, if you are looking for cases regarding "oxen," make sure you search for "oxen" as well as "ox."
      • Keep tailoring your search to retrieve a more manageable results list by using more specific connectors.
        • Example: A search — "Rose AND Pesticide" (without quotes) may come up with 250 results. If that happens, try "Rose /P Pesticide" (without quotes) or "Rose /S Pesticide" (without quotes) for a more manageable results list.