#1 Advanced Search Fields Are Not Mutually Exclusive

When using LexisNexis AlaCarte! Advanced Search, you are encouraged to use multiple fields to formulate a highly targeted query.

Example:

To find information about Microsoft operating systems that doesn't include information about Windows NT, enter:

Guided Search:

with all the words: operating system

without the words: Windows NT

Field Search:

Company Name: Microsoft

Custom Date Range: 10/16/2001 to 11/25/2004

Sometimes search queries can be so targeted that they do not return any results. If this happens, rephrase or broaden your query and try again.

The Advanced Search fields in LexisNexis AlaCarte! can help refine your search to return relevant documents quickly and efficiently.

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Use this search technique in the Simple Search box or any Advanced Search field.

Adjacent words (tax free, dog bite, automobile accident, first class, etc.) are searched as individual words appearing in the specific order in which they were entered.

Example: To search for articles with the phrase first class enter: first class

If the phrase you are searching for contains conjunctions, such as AND or OR, replace the reserved word with a space when you enter your search.

Example: To search for articles with the phrase black and white, enter: black white

Words such as of or the are ignored during the search to deliver more targeted search results.

Example: To search for articles with the phrase Terms of Endearment, enter: terms endearment

To ensure that you are searching for an exact phrase, enclose the words in quotation marks.

Example: If you search for the phrase "money-laundering scheme", all of your results will contain those words together in that order.

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Connectors are easy-to-use items that establish logical relationships between words and concepts. LexisNexis AlaCarte! does not look for connectors themselves in
documents — just for the actual search words.

OR

Use this connector in the Boolean search field in LexisNexis AlaCarte! Advanced Search.

The OR connector links synonyms, alternative forms of expression, acronyms, and so on.

Example: doctor or physician — finds either doctor or physician.

W/n

Use this connector in the Simple Search box or the Boolean search field in Advanced Search.

The W/n (within n words) connector links search words and phrases to create concepts. The letter n stands for a number from 1 to 255. W/n does not specify a word order.

Example: doctor w/5 malpractice — finds doctor within five or fewer words of malpractice, regardless of which word appears first.

NOTE: The W/n connector does not work when searching TV News Video clips.  Use the ~ as a connector instead.

PRE/n

Use this connector in the Simple Search box.

The PRE/n (precedes by n words) connector requires both words to appear in the document with the first word preceding the second word by n or fewer words. The letter n stands for a number from 1 to 255. Use this connector when a different word order would change the meaning.

Example: southwest pre/2 air or airline — finds Southwest Air or Southwest Airlines as well as other variations.

NOTE: The PRE/n connector does not work when searching TV News Video clips.

NOT W/n
Use this search technique in the Boolean search field in Advanced Search.

The NOT W/n (not within n words) connector requires that the first word appear in the document, but that if the second word appears it cannot be within n words of the first. The letter n stands for a number from 1 to 255.

Example: rico NOT W/5 puerto — finds at least one instance where the term RICO appears separated from the word puerto; however, Puerto Rico can appear elsewhere in the document.

This query will return documents in which Puerto appears 5 words or fewer away from the word Rico.

NOTE: The NOT W/n connector does not work when searching TV News Video clips.

W/S

Use this connector in the Boolean search field in Advanced Search.

The W/S (within sentence) connector looks for documents with search words in the same sentence.

Example: doctor w/s malpractice — finds doctor in the same sentence as malpractice.

NOTE: The W/S connector does not work when searching TV News video clips.

W/P

Use this connector in the Simple Search box or the Boolean search field in Advanced Search.

The W/P (within paragraph) connector looks for documents with search words in the same paragraph.

Example: doctor w/p malpractice — finds doctor in the same paragraph as malpractice.

NOTE: The W/P connector does not work when searching TV News Video clips.

AND

Use this connector in the Simple Search box or the Boolean search field in Advanced Search.

The AND connector links words or phrases that must both appear anywhere in the same document.

Example: doctor and malpractice — finds both doctor and malpractice anywhere in the same document.

AND NOT
Use this connector in the Boolean search field in Advanced Search.

The AND NOT connector excludes documents that contain certain words or phrases. Use this connector with caution, because it can exclude relevant documents. We recommend using this connector at the end of your search in most cases.

Example: doctor and not malpractice — finds the word doctor anywhere in the document, but the system does not retrieve any documents that contain both the words doctor and malpractice anywhere in the same document.

When ordering your connectors, the AND NOT connector should be used last. See A Note about Multiple Connectors below for additional information on ordering connectors.

NOTE: The AND NOT connector does not work when searching TV News Video clips.  Use the NOT connector instead.

A Note about Multiple Connectors

You may use multiple connectors in one search request.

When you use multiple connectors in a search, the LexisNexis services process the search according to a priority order that works much like an algebraic equation. Connectors operate in the following order of priority:

1. OR
2. W/n, PRE/n, NOT W/n
3. W/S
4. W/P
5. AND
6. AND NOT

When you use two or more of the same connectors in a search, they normally operate from left to right. When a search contains multiple W/n or PRE/n connectors, however, the connectors operate in numerical order with the smallest number first. Refer to Using Parentheses To Group Concepts for additional information.

NOTE:

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Use this search technique in the Simple Search box or the Boolean search field in Advanced Search.

When you use more than one connector in a search, sometimes the priority in which connectors operate has an unintended effect on your search request. Use parentheses to group your concepts for proper retrieval. [For more detail on connectors, see #3 Embrace Terms and Connectors (They’re Not as Scary as They Look!)]  

For example, you might think the following search will find documents about Bill Clinton or George Bush: bill w/3 clinton or george w/3 bush

The LexisNexis® services, however, interpret these search terms in the following priority:

1. clinton or george
2. bill within three words or fewer of clinton or george
3. bush within three words or fewer of clinton or george, that is also within three words or fewer of bill

Use parentheses to force the names to stay together in two separate search concepts.

For this example, you would enter the following search string: ( bill w/3 clinton ) or ( george w/3 bush )

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Use this search technique in the Simple Search box or the Boolean search field in Advanced Search.

Hyphens, slashes, and parentheses are treated as a space, so a hyphenated word or terms containing slashes or parentheses are seen as multiple words. When searching terms or phrases that include these characters, replace the hyphen, slash, or parenthesis with a space.

Examples:

• co-operative is read as 2 words: co operative

• 401(k) is read as 2 words: 401 k

• 20/20 is read as 2 words: 20 20

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Use this search technique in the Simple Search box or the Boolean search field in Advanced Search.

The LexisNexis® services do not interpret upper- and lowercase characters differently, so in most instances you do not need to worry about capitalization.

The meaning of certain specific terms, however, changes with capitalization. Use the CAPS, NOCAPS, or ALLCAPS command as follows:

CAPS

word(s) must have one or more capital letters

NOCAPS

word(s) must have no capital letters

ALLCAPS

word(s) must have all capital letters

For example, enter the following search command to limit your results to those instances where the word AIDS appears in all capital letters:

allcaps ( AIDS )

Enter the following search command to limit your results to those instances where the word law appears with one or more capital letters:

caps ( law )

Enter the following search terms to limit your results to those instances where the word law appears without any capital letters:

nocaps ( law )

NOTE: The capitalization commands do not work when searching TV News Video clips.

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Use this search technique in the Company Name field in Advanced Search.

When you search for documents about a company, include all variations of the company name.

For example, in the Company Name field enter: Wal-Mart

You may further refine your company search by including search terms using the fields in the Guided Search, Boolean Search, or Field Search sections, such as: with all the words, Person - First Name, Person - Last Name.

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Use this search technique in the Person - First Name and Person - Last Name fields in Advanced Search.

Use the W/3 connector to join a person's first name and last name. The W/3 connector finds the first name within three or fewer words of the last name. This search technique allows for middle initials or the last name to appear either before or after the first name.

For example, to find documents referring to John Doe

Enter:
john w/3 doe

Some names have common alternatives, such as Cathy and Kathy, and spacing or punctuation considerations. For these names, use a more detailed search.

For example, to find documents referring to John Kennedy, enter:

john or jack w/3 kennedy

To find Margaret McMac, enter:

margaret or peg! w/3 mcmac or mc mac

To find Karen O'Neal, enter:

karen w/3 o'neal or oneal or o neal

To find Robert Smith, enter:

robert or bob or robt w/3 smith

 

 NOTE:

If you use more than one connector in a search, remember to use parentheses to properly group your concepts.

The W/3 connector does not work when searching TV News Video clips.  Use the ~ connector instead.
 

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Use this search technique in the Boolean search field in Advanced Search.

Use the exclamation mark ( ! ) to find all forms of the words.

For example, the following search words will help find documents concerning employee drug tests: drug w/5 test or screen! w/10 employ!

The ! and * connectors are called super-universal characters, which pick up multiple variations of the word, such as: Employ, Employee, and Employment.

Use this search technique in the Boolean search field in Advanced Search.

Use the ATLEAST command when you want your search terms to appear a defined number of times in a document.
 

For example, use the following search to find documents that contain an in-depth discussion of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA): atleast10 ( cercla )

This search command requires CERCLA to appear in every document at least 10 times. You can use any number from 1 to 255 with the ATLEAST command.

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Search smarter today with LexisNexis AlaCarte!