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Introduction to Boolean  Searching 2016

Before we Begin: Index vs. Full‐Text Indexed databases • Search based on subject matter or concept • Like digest searches • Go to “Landlords” section, then look up case • Information already pre-sorted into categories • If information isn’t in the category, you would miss it

Full-text databases • • • • •

Search based on individual words Like a Google search Type in landlord User specifies search terms Search not limited to someone else’s categorization

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Yahoo search page circa 1998 Example of an indexed search database.

Google search circa 2016 Example of a full‐text database

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Before we Begin:  Boolean vs. Natural Language

Before we Begin: Know the Scope Know the scope of what you’re searching (the “corpus”) so you aren’t guessing what’s in the database.

Case Law

Federal and state case law back to 1950**

Statutes

U.S. Code & official state statutes for D.C. plus 46 states

Other Regulations

Links to state and federal administrative regulations and codes (some are searchable)

Court Rules

Links to state and federal courts rules (some are searchable)

Constitutions

Links to state and federal constitutions (a few are searchable)

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Two things to keep in mind Synonymy

Ambiguity

• Words that can mean the same thing • Use synonyms for better results • Ex. Car, vehicle, truck, van, automobile

• Words that can mean more than  one thing • Avoid ambiguity by adding terms  or the “not” operator • Ex: Negligence not criminal

Identify concepts / terms

Identify issue

Search process A good search is like a dance — general steps you follow with added  flourish to impress people

Craft a search

Refine search

Review results

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Laying the Groundwork

Issues • Government is trying to force wife to testify against her husband. They were married just prior  to the trial. Legal principles • Testimonial privilege / Communications privilege • Compelled testimony • Common law

Additional facts • Criminal • Spouse

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Fastcase Boolean operators Operator

Example

Description

AND, &

libel AND damages

Results must contain both “libel” and “damages”

OR

premarital OR prenuptial

Results must contain either “premarital” or “prenuptial”

NOT

negligence NOT criminal

Results must contain “negligence” but not the word “criminal”

w/3, /3

custody /15 interrogation

Results must contain “custody” w/in 15 words of “interrogation.”

*, !

testif*

Results must contain some variation of the stem “testif ” such as testified, testify, testifying, etc.

?

mari?uana

Results must contain m-a-r-i-_-u-a-n-a with any letter substituted for the question mark

“”

“estate tax”

Results must contain the exact phrase “estate tax”

( )

(confront OR cross-examine)

Parentheses tells Fastcase to do the operations contained within it before doing things outside

AND — dog AND bite

Dog

Dog  AND  bite

Bite

Only returns cases at the intersection — ones containing both the words “right” and “wrong.”

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OR — car OR automobile car OR vehicle

Car

Car AND Vehicle

.Vehicle

Returns all cases around the perimeter of the two words — either those using the word “car” or the word “automobile.”

NOT — speech NOT school speech NOT school

Only returns cases mentioning “speech” without referencing the word “school.”

Speech School

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speech NOT (school OR political) speech NOT (school OR political) school OR political

Political Speech

Only returns cases mentioning “speech,” but not mentioning “school” or “political.”

School

speech AND public NOT (school OR political) (speech AND public) NOT  (school OR political)

Speech Political

The cases returned will use both the words “speech” and “public” but won’t use either the words “political” or “school.”

Public

School

school OR political

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Proximity or within — w/# or /# custody /5 interrogation — return cases where custody appears within 5 words of interrogation Sample matches: in-custody interrogation of a suspect . . . .

(w/1 matches.)

unless in-custody police interrogation is . . . .

(w/2 matches.)

interrogation while in custody may give . . . .

(w/3 matches.)

when in custody for purposes of interrogation . . . .

(w/4 matches.)

“Quotation marks” “communications privilege” — returns only cases with that exact phrase Sample matches: . . . that the communications privilege encompassed within the same statute precludes . . . . . . marital communications privilege is not applicable here because Mr. and Mrs. Irons were estranged at the time of the conversations. Not in search results: . . . spouse may enjoy marital privileges from . . . . . . the marital communications privilege may be waived . . .

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General Note on The Plural Form Remember to include your Plurals • Fastcase does not automatically look for plurals in Boolean searches • If you want to include plurals, you have to tell the engine to look for them by using a wildcard or root expander

Root expander (*, !) — mar* Return cases with at least one word that begins with “mar.” • Pros: • Useful for plurals, different tenses, gerunds, etc. • Cons: • Can slow down search times – if you just want to search plurals, OR is faster • Can be over-inclusive — see, e.g., maritime in this search.

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Single letter wildcard — ?

myr??d myriad

myr??d— return all cases with either spelling (correct or wrong) of myriad

myraid

Order of Operations W/5

•The “Within” operator runs first

AND

•The “And” operator is run second

NOT

•The “Exclude” operator runs third

OR

•The “Or” operator runs last 

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Parentheses — ()

Consider the following search: car OR vehicle AND getaway

car OR vehicle AND getaway

What Fastcase actually sees: (vehicle AND getaway) OR car

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Subtle but important distinction Correct:

Incorrect:

(car OR vehicle) AND getaway

car OR (vehicle AND getaway)

Advanced Order of Operations Consider the following searches: 1

A:

2

3

4

Rule* /5 “803(5)” AND knowledge OR recall NOT memory 3

4

2

1

B: knowledge OR recall NOT memory AND Rule* /5 “803(5)” 2

3

1

4

C: Rule* /5 “803(5)” AND (knowledge OR recall) NOT memory A (wrong): 157,342 results; B (wrong): 1,038,488 results; C (right): 99 results

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Back to our Example Issues • Government is trying to force wife to testify against her husband. They were married just prior to the trial. Legal principles • Testimonial privilege / Communications privilege • Compelled testimony • Common law Additional facts • Criminal • Spouse

Concept

Keyword and operator

Testimonial privilege Communications privilege



(testimon* or marital) /3 privileg* AND

Compelled testimony



Spouse



(compel* or requir*) /5 testif*  AND (spous* or husband or wife)

Criminal trial



NOT civil

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(testimon* or marital) /3 privileg* AND (compel* or  requir*) /5 testif* AND (spous* or husband or wife)  NOT civil

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First Search

Second Search

(testimon* or marital)  /3 privileg* AND



(testimon* or marital) /3 privileg* /15

(spous* or husband or  wife) (compel* or requir*) /5  testif* AND



(spous* or husband or wife)  AND (compel* or requir* or forc*)  /5 testif*

NOT civil





NOT (civil or “attorney /2  privileg*)

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Use Forecite to  enhance your results

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Forecite: Fastcase has identified 3 additional decisions that  may be relevant to your research topic, but do not contain  one or more of your search terms.

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