electronicaseresearch

Problems of Boolean (Terms and Connectors) Searching (1): 

Problems of Boolean (Terms and Connectors) Searching (1) Inverse relationship between precision and recall Definitions of precision and recall Can’t really know total # or relevant documents in collection Problem increases as the database increases in size Search example: Dog w/25 sniff! and school (Westlaw) (429 cases) Dog w/25 sniff! and school and student and locker (Westlaw) (54 cases)

Problems of Boolean (Terms and Connectors) Searching (2): 

Problems of Boolean (Terms and Connectors) Searching (2) “It's all about words. Words as labels. Words as links. Keywords. And words are messy little critters. Imprecise and undependable, their meaning shifts with context. One man's paradise is another man's oblivion. Synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, contranyms: the challenges of communication are part of the human condition, unsusceptible to the eager advances of technology.” Peter Morville, Ambient Findability Ambiguous words Synonymous words Contextual problems Analogy

Problems of Boolean (Terms and Connectors) Searching (3): 

Problems of Boolean (Terms and Connectors) Searching (3) 1000 docs in system 100 documents contain the word "computing“ "computing" used 10 different ways. 100,000 docs in system 7,100 documents contain the word "computing“ "computing" used in 84 different ways. —The Challenge of Commercial Document Retrieval by David Blair (2002), p.279.

The “User” Problem : 

The “User” Problem Evaluation of relevance depends on what you already know and what you want to know. Users embrace “Principle of Least Effort” Move to more accessible, usable systems Users sacrifice quality for accessibility

Natural Language Searching: 

Natural Language Searching Assigns weights to the terms in your search expression on the basis of the significance of those terms. Cases are returned in order of relevance Strips out stop words and initial phrases Stemming program Indentifies legal phrases – 78,000 in the DB so don’t need to use “” Applies equivalencies – ave will get you avenue Example: Can sniff dogs be used to search student or school lockers WL: stems sniff and gets sniffer, sniffing

Terms and Connectors - 1: 

Terms and Connectors - 1 Truncation ! – finds up to 16 characters sniff != sniff, sniffer, sniffing, sniffy Universal character * object**=object, objects, objected within a word – kn*w Automatic plurals dog =dog and dogs; driver=driver drivers driver’s drivers But plural only retrieves the plural Can turn off automatic plurals WL: #damage LX: singular (damage) Spelling variations and errors (Westlaw) Judgment=judgement

Terms and Connectors - 2: 

Terms and Connectors - 2 Acronyms e.p.a.=e.p.a. epa e p a (Westlaw) Compound phrases air-bag=air bag airbag air-bag (Westlaw) Numbers (Lexis and Westlaw) Twelve=12 First = 1st

Terms and Connectors - 3: 

Terms and Connectors - 3 PHRASE Lexis: electronic mail=“electronic mail” Westlaw: electronic mail =electronic or mail Therefore must use “”, i.e. “electronic mail” OR (space in Westlaw) finds documents with any of the search terms e.g. doctor or physician

Terms and Connectors - 4: 

Terms and Connectors - 4 PROXIMITY (1) Westlaw: +n - finds words within number of words in the order listed e.g. right +2 counsel Lexis: pre/n e.g. right pre/2 counsel PROXIMITY (2) Westlaw /n - finds words within # of words in any order e.g. video /4 surveillance Lexis: w/n e.g. video w/4 surveillance General rules numbers up to 255 +n always processed before /n lower number processed before higher number

Terms and Connectors – 5: 

Terms and Connectors – 5 SENTENCE Westlaw /s - finds words in the same sentence regardless of order e.g. child /s support Lexis: w/s Child w/s support SENTENCE (2) Westlaw +s – specified order in same sentence e.g. child +s support PARAGRAPH Westlaw /p - finds words in the same paragraph e.g. homeless /p shelter Lexis w/p e.g. homeless w/p shelter PARAGRAPH (2) Westlaw +p – specified order within the same paragraph homeless +p shelter

Terms and Connectors - 6: 

Terms and Connectors - 6 AND & finds all documents that include all words e.g. search & warrant BUT NOT (Westlaw) % - finds all documents that include the first term but not the second term e.g. trust % charitable AND NOT (Lexis) e.g. and not name (berring)

Order and Nesting (1): 

Order and Nesting (1)

Order and Nesting (2): 

Order and Nesting (2) Dogs AND cats OR pets Looks for documents with the words cats OR pets Then narrows those documents to the ones containing the word dogs

Order and Nesting (3): 

Order and Nesting (3) (Dogs AND cats) OR pets first looks for documents with dogs AND cats then broadens search by looking for documents containing the word pets documents must meet the condition of containing both dogs AND cats, or alternatively the word pets You can change the order of processing by putting parentheses around terms to indicate those actions should be taken first

Order of Processing: 

Order of Processing

Order of Processing Example: 

Order of Processing Example sniff! W/5 dog OR canine AND student OR pupil OR school W/50 locker (53 cases) Operation order Because OR has the highest priority, it operates first and creates a unit of dog OR canine and then a unit of student OR pupil OR school. W/5, the smaller of the W/n connectors, ties together the term sniff! and the previously formed unit of dog OR canine W/50 operates next and ties together the previously formed unit of student OR pupil or school within 50 words of locker AND, with the lowest priority, operates last and links the units formed in the second and third bullets above.

Changing the Order of Processing : 

Changing the Order of Processing To change the connector priority, use parentheses. Connectors inside parentheses have priority over, or operate before, connectors outside parentheses. Example: sniff! W/5 dog OR canine AND student OR pupil OR (school W/50 locker) – 239 cases Operation order Parentheses has priority (school w/50 locker) Or is next and creates the unit of dog OR canine and then a unit of student OR pupil Or also ties together the unit of student or pupil and the unit of (school w/50 locker) AND, with the lowest priority, operates last and links the units formed in the second and third bullets above. Is the equivalent of (sniff! W/5 dog OR canine) AND (student OR pupil) OR (school W/50 locker)

Fields and Segments (Westlaw): 

Fields and Segments (Westlaw) ti(o'connor and ortega) – limit to title sy("reasonable expectation of privacy" /p worker employee) – limit to syllabus he("reasonable expectation of privacy" /p worker employee) – limit to headnote Note: Results Plus Add Related Search Terms Thesaurus

Westlaw Keynumber Searching: 

Westlaw Keynumber Searching Example: Wilson v. Moreau 440 F.Supp.2d 81 Note: background and holding information Headnote:[12] 349 Searches and Seizures  349I In General     349k25 Persons, Places and Things Protected       349k26 k. Expectation of Privacy. Click on 349k26 k to get to custom digest Choose jurisdiction: ie. Federal Add search terms – i.e. computer or email or "electronic mail“ Result – 23 headnotes

Westlaw Keysearch: 

Westlaw Keysearch Browsable outline of legal topics Each topic has a pre-formulated query which incorporates the appropriate key number(s) and other relevant terms Search option: You can also search the KeySearch topics and subtopics for specific terms. Type the terms in the text box in the left frame of the KeySearch page and click GO. A list of topics and subtopics containing the terms in their hierarchy is displayed. Example: e-mail

Westlaw Keysearch Cont’d: 

Westlaw Keysearch Cont’d Example All Topics > Employment Law > Employee Privacy > Computer Files; E-mail Click on View/Edit Full Query to see the West pre-written query. (TO(231H) (TO(349 372) /P EMPLOYER) DI(EMPLOYER /P EMPLOYEE) /P PRIVA! /P "ELECTRONIC DATA" "ELECTRONIC MAIL" E-MAIL INTERNET WORLD-WIDE-WEB) If you add search terms it will add them to the existing pre-written query Add word computer and you get (TO(231H) (TO(349 372) /P EMPLOYER) DI(EMPLOYER /P EMPLOYEE) /P PRIVA! /P "ELECTRONIC DATA" "ELECTRONIC MAIL" E-MAIL INTERNET WORLD-WIDE-WEB) & (computer)

Westlaw: Directory: 

Westlaw: Directory Use the online directory to locate smaller more specialized databases All Databases > Topical Materials by Area of Practice > Labor & Employment > Federal Cases   Note the        : information symbol for contents of database

Lexis: Fields and Segments: 

Lexis: Fields and Segments counsel ( davis polk ) writtenby (mosk) ln-headnotes ("reasonable expectation of privacy" /p worker or employee) – limits search to headnotes (190 cases) ln-summary ("reasonable expectation of privacy" /p worker or employee) – limits search to summary (331 cases)

Lexis: Features: 

Lexis: Features electronic or artificial w/25 surveillance or monitor! w/50 employee or worker and “invasion of privacy” Syntax definition Suggest terms for my search (can also be used after running a search) Supervisor, co-worker, wiretap, oral communication, fourth amendment Feed back on your search Check spelling Easy Search - google-esque search “You are not required to enter your terms using terms and connectors or natural language guidelines, but if you do, the LexisNexis search engine automatically detects which type of search to perform”

Lexis: Core Terms/Core Cites/More Like This: 

Lexis: Core Terms/Core Cites/More Like This Note: procedural posture, overview, outcome “Core terms are important words and phrases that appear within a document More Like This - “Lexis searches for documents with language patterns similar to the document from which you invoked More Like This” Can choose core terms Can choose core cites documents with citation patterns similar to the document from which you invoked More Like This “more like selected text” These are natural language searches and will give you a default number of result set in your preferences

Lexis: Headnotes: 

Lexis: Headnotes Example: Vega-Rodriguez v. Puerto Rico Tel. Co., 110 F.3d 174 “Headnotes identify the major points of law found in an opinion, expressed in the actual language of the court.” More like this headnote Constitutional Law > Bill of Rights > Fundamental Rights > Search & Seizure > Scope of Protection: More Like This Headnote Jurisdiction Retrieve all headnotes and additional cases Constitutional Law > Bill of Rights > Fundamental Rights > Search & Seizure > Scope of Protection Retrieve all headnotes and additional cases on this topic Select Jurisdiction: CA Constitutional Cases Limit by date: Previous Year

Lexis: Search Advisor: 

Lexis: Search Advisor Headnote: Constitutional Law > Bill of Rights > Fundamental Rights > Search & Seizure > Scope of Protection Click on Scope of Protection - takes you to Search Advisor Choose Scope of Protection from hierarchy of topics Step 1:Select jurisdiction: CA Federal and State Cases Step 2: Retrieve all headnotes and additional cases on this topic or Search within cases on this topic (terms and connectors or natural language: computer or email or electronic mail Restrict by date: Previous Year

Lexis: Search Advisor Cont’d: 

Lexis: Search Advisor Cont’d Can use Search Advisor through the tab at top of screen Option 1: Find a Legal Topic Example: electronic mail takes you to Labor & Employment Law > Employee Privacy > Invasion of Privacy Option 2: Explore Legal Topics Example: Labor & Employment Law (at this point you can search in the entire topic of labor and employment: see Find a Legal Topic… Labor & Employment Law or All Search Advisor Topics) Drill further down to Employee Privacy > Invasion of Privacy Note the related topics link

Lexis: Directory: 

Lexis: Directory Use online directory to find smaller and more specialized databases: Legal > Area of Law - By Topic > Labor & Employment > Cases > State > CA Labor & Employment Cases

Natural Language Searching: 

Natural Language Searching Assigns weights to the terms in your search expression on the basis of the significance of those terms. Cases are returned in order of relevance Strips out stop words and initial phrases Stemming program Indentifies legal phrases – 78,000 in the DB so don’t need to use “” Applies equivalencies – ave will get you avenue Example: Can sniff dogs be used to search student or school lockers (Lexis) Can sniff dogs be used to search student or school lockers (Westlaw) stems sniff and gets sniffer, sniffing

Natural Language Searching: 

Natural Language Searching Add field restrictions – weight given to fields is increased. E.g. Smith in judge field it is given more weight than if it was just in the search Use the date field for updating research Require/Exclude Terms (WL) or (Restrict Search Using Mandatory Terms in Lexis) can have required fields – or excluded fields Theasaurus (WL) or Suggest Words and Concepts for Entered Terms (Lexis) Can sniff dogs be used to search student or school lockers Using WL thesaurus: Can sniff dogs (CANINE) be used to search student (PUPIL) or school lockers And required term - school Lexis: can sniff or sniffer dogs be used to search student or school lockers   With suggested terms: Can sniff or sniffer dogs be used to search student or school lockers, pupil, children If you repeat terms it increases their weight You can increase you search results from the default number

Where?: 

Where?

Why?: 

Why?

Free Websites: 

Free Websites Findlaw: http://www.findlaw.com/casecode/ Law Library http://www.law.berkeley.edu/library/online/federalResearch/judicial/general.html Coverage varies No bells and whistles

Internet Searching and Search Tools: 

Internet Searching and Search Tools Article: Survey: Searchers are Confident, Satisfied & Clueless (SearchEngine Watch) Search Tools http://www.google.com http://www.yahoo.com http://www.ask.com http://www.alltheweb.com Problems? Coverage: time, extent, depth Accuracy and reliablity Lack of sophistication in search tools

Swings in the Pendulum?: 

Swings in the Pendulum? “The force of description dictates that the intellectual content of documents should be described as completely as possible. The force of discrimination dictates that documents should be distinguished from other documents in the system. Full text is biased towards description. Unique identifiers such as ISBNs (and Zip Codes) offer perfect discrimination but no descriptive value. Metadata fields (e.g., title, author, publisher) and controlled vocabularies (e.g., subject, category, format, audience) hold the middle ground.” Peter Morville, Ambient Findability p. 52 Continuum: free text, boolean searching at one end with tools offered by Lexis/Westlaw (segments, headnotes, keysearch, search advisor, core terms, controlled vocabularies) in the middle. Metadata has discriminatory power – it can improve precision. Even natural language cannot accurately determine aboutness. Will users embrace less accessible systems? Results Plus vs. Keysearch

A New Classification Scheme: 

A New Classification Scheme http://www.strayshoppingcart.com

Costs: 

Costs Examples ( from 2002 so a little dated) of Lexis and Westlaw costs: Lexis (word document) Westlaw (word document) Lexis and Westlaw now more responsive to cost needs of small firms, solo practioners, non-profits

Tips: 

Tips Importance of precision and recall depends on type of search Need a few good documents (or a specific document): precision outweighs recall Need exhaustive search – recall is the key metric Come to Terms and Connectors search with jargon and specifics Use distinct terms if possible Use secondary sources – treatises, ALR Use smallest database possible Use segments/fields – similar rationale to using smallest database possible Utilize Lexis/Westlaw case-finding tools Topics/keynumbers – custom digest Search Advisor (Lexis); KeySearch (Westlaw) More like this/More like this headnote Try Natural Language