Introduction to Boolean Searching2017

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

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

Google search circa 2016Example of a full-text database

Before we Begin: Boolean vs. Natural Language

Before we Begin: Know the Scope

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)

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

Two things to keep in mind

Synonymy

• Words that can mean the same thing

• Use synonyms for better results

• Ex. Car, vehicle, truck, van, automobile

Ambiguity

• Words that can mean more than one thing

• Avoid ambiguity by adding terms or the “not” operator

• Ex: Negligence not criminal

Search process

Identify concepts /

terms

Craft a search

Review results

Refine search

Identify issue

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

Laying the Groundwork

• Government is trying to force wife to testify against her husband. They were married just prior to the trial.

Issues

• Testimonial privilege / Communications privilege

• Compelled testimony

• Common law

Legal principles

• Criminal

• Spouse

Additional facts

Fastcase Boolean operatorsOperator 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

Only returns cases at the intersection —

ones containing both the words “right”

and “wrong.”Dog BiteDog AND bite

OR — car OR automobile

Returns all cases around the perimeter of

the two words — either those using the

word “car” or the word “automobile.”Car .VehicleCar

ANDVehicle

car OR vehicle

NOT — speech NOT school

Only returns cases mentioning “speech”

without referencing the word “school.”Speech

School

speech NOT school

speech NOT (school OR political)

Only returns cases mentioning

“speech,” but not mentioning

“school” or “political.”

Speech

School

Political

speech NOT (school OR political)

school OR political

speech AND public NOT (school OR political)

The cases returned will use both the

words “speech” and “public” but won’t

use either the words “political” or

“school.”

Speech

School

Political

(speech AND public) NOT (school OR political)

school OR politicalPublic

Proximity or within — w/# or /#

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.)

custody /5 interrogation — return cases where custody appears within 5 words

of interrogation

“Quotation marks”

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 . . .

“communications privilege” — returns only cases with that exact phrase

General Note on The Plural Form

• 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

Remember to include your Plurals

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.

Single letter wildcard — ?

myr??d— return all cases with either

spelling (correct or wrong) of myriad

myr??d

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

Parentheses — ()

Consider the following search: car OR vehicle AND getaway

car OR vehicle AND getaway

What Fastcase actually sees:

(vehicle AND getaway) OR car

Subtle but important distinctionIncorrect:

car OR (vehicle AND getaway)

Correct:

(car OR vehicle) AND getaway

Advanced Order of OperationsConsider the following searches:

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

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

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

1 2 3 4

123 4

A:

B:

C:

A (wrong): 157,342 results; B (wrong): 1,038,488 results; C (right): 99 results

12 3 4

Back to our Example

• Government is trying to force wife to testify against her husband. They were married just prior to the trial.

Issues

• Testimonial privilege / Communications privilege

• Compelled testimony

• Common law

Legal principles

• Criminal

• Spouse

Additional facts

Concept Keyword and operator

Testimonial privilege

(testimon* or marital) /3privileg* AND

Communicationsprivilege

Compelled testimony

(compel* or requir*) /5 testif* AND

Spouse

(spous* or husband or wife)

Criminal trial

NOT civil

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

First Search Second Search

(testimon* or marital) /3 privileg* AND

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

(spous* or husband or wife)

(spous* or husband or wife) AND

(compel* or requir*) /5 testif* AND

(compel* or requir* or forc*) /5 testif*

NOT civil NOT (civil or “attorney /2 privileg*)

Use Forecite to enhance your results

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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