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Zimmerman's Research Guide - An Online Encyclopedia for Legal Researchers
 
spacer January 2008
In the Spotlight...
Rhonda Keaton
Matthew Wagner
Librarian Relations Consultant
Matt shares his expertise and experience in the Monthly Column. Also check out the weekly tip provided by the Librarian Relations Group.
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The InfoPro website will spotlight a LexisNexis® Librarian Relations Consultant each month in 2008.
 
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Research Tips

Previous Tips

What resources on www.lexis.com offer downloading or printing to an Excel spreadsheet?

Research tips to include in your library communications and newsletters

Would you like an easy way to see all the changes made to a CFR section over the past year without having to use the paper LSA (List of Sections Affected)?

Archived Tips:
2007 Archives
2006 Archives
2005 Archives
2004 Archives

InfoPro Home > Training & Tutorials > Research Tips

Have you Noticed that FOCUS™ has Changed?

In March, we implemented a change to the FOCUS feature that allowed users to FOCUS within an answer set which had already been narrowed using the FOCUS feature (nested focusing). Once an answer set had been narrowed using FOCUS, users had to click on the Exit FOCUS link to conduct additional FOCUS searches on the original answer set.

As of the beginning of July, users have both options—to conduct nested focusing (focus within a set of FOCUS results) and to conduct multiple FOCUS searches on the original answer set without having to Exit FOCUS.

The default is that your original search terms are not included in and highlighted in your FOCUS results. FOCUS preferences can be selected to display search terms and/or always search within the original results set. To set these preferences click on “Preferences” on the black toolbar in the upper-right of the lexis.com® screen. In the left column under “Results View” select Show FOCUS Bar, Display Terms, and Always Search Within Original Results.

With “nested focusing” I have the ability to remove words from the FOCUS search box if they are appearing too often within my results and my results will still include the words I have added to each layer of my FOCUS, they will just not appear bolded in my results.

An example: Searching Federal and State Expert Witness Filings, Combined for economist /s expert, I retrieve 408 results. My FOCUS is and los! /s (wage or earn! or income) with 121 results. The results are all relevant; but the Cite list is very long. If I remove the words added in my FOCUS, I still have 121 results with just the economist /s expert terms bolded.

For additional assistance in understanding these changes, please contact you Librarian Relations Consultant.