ConnectorsNote: on Lexis Advance connectors must be in lower case, otherwise they will be treated as a search term |
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Lexis Plus | Westlaw Edge |
Notes |
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And
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E.g. dogs and cats retrieves only documents containing both dogs and cats |
Or
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E.g. dogs or cats retrieves documents containing dogs, documents containing cats, and documents containing both dogs and cats. |
Exclude terms
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E.g. dogs not cats retrieves documents containing dogs, but not documents containing both dogs and cats. |
Proximity Numeric
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E.g. liability /3 limited would retrieve both limited liability and liability was limited |
Proximity Grammatic: Same Paragraph
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Proximity Grammatic: Same Sentence
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Exact Phrase
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type quotation marks around terms to be searched as a phrase |
type quotation marks around terms to be searched as a phrase Note: If you do not use quotation marks, a space between two words is processed as an "or" connector. |
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Default Order of Processing |
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The “default order of processing” is the order in which the system processes your search query |
Most systems process your connectors in this order: OR, Numerical Proximity Connectors (smallest to largest), Grammatical Connectors (/s before /p), AND, NOT. Override default order by using parenthesis |
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Terms |
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Lexis Plus | Westlaw Edge |
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Multiple-Character Wildcard/ Term Expander
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E.g., drunk! |
Single-Character Wildcard
Retrieves terms that match any single |
? | * |
E.g., dr*nk (dr?nk on Lexis) |
Plurals |
the singular will automatically retrieve the plural form of a word, including irregular plurals
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the singular will automatically retrieve the plural form of a word, including irregular plurals
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On both systems
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When should you use a Natural Language search instead of a Terms and Connectors search? Classic legal answer, it depends.
First, you should always write out a clear issue statement. What question are you trying to answer.
Then draft a search query. For a Natural Language search, follow a basic pattern.
Party --- Cause of action --- Situation --- Situation
Party (fact) --- Cause of action --- Cause of action (term of art) --- Situation (fact)
Example: owner recreational facility liability injury customer rented equipment
Or, if you feel more comfortable with your level of knowledge regarding the practice area, use a Terms and Connectors search