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Boolean and Terms & Connectors Searching

Introduction & Terminology

Guide Overview

This guide provides an introduction to Boolean (often used interchangeably with Terms & Connectors) searching and natural language searching, with a focus on searching for legal materials.

Definitions

  • Natural language searching is like searching on Google and can be useful when exploring a topic completely new to you because you can search in the same way as you would talk about a subject.
  • Boolean searching is a search method that technically only utilizes AND, OR, or NOT to tell a database how you want terms connected in a search.
    • AND means you wish both terms to appear in your search results (e.g. Stanford AND Law);
    • OR means you wish either term to appear in your search results (e.g. Stanford OR Leland);
    • NOT means you wish the term following NOT to not appear in your search terms (e.g. Stanford NOT "Palo Alto").
  • Terms & Connectors searching is a search method very similar to Boolean searching but that uses substantially more operators to connect search terms, allowing you more control over a search.
  • Special Note: terms & connectors is often used interchangeably with Boolean searching, though the two are technically different. When you're looking at the advanced search options in a database, be sure to check both for Boolean searching and for T&C searching so that you understand all possible operators available to you.

The below chart compares natural language search examples with terms and connectors search examples.

Natural Language Search Terms & Connectors Search Explanation of Terms & Connectors Search
endangered species sea turtles "Endangered Species Act" AND "sea turtles" /p habitat!  This search will include results with the phrase "endangered species act" and the phrase "sea turtles" appearing within the same paragraph as any form of the prefix habitat with all possible endings. 
classroom photocopies copyright infringement (reproduc! OR photocop!) /s (class! OR educat!) AND "copyright infringement" This search will search for the prefix reproduc or the prefix photocop within the same sentence as the prefix class or the prefix educat.  All results will also contain the phrase "copyright infringement." 

Narrowing Your Search (Too Many Results)

If your search retrieves too many results, you can narrow your search by using some of the connectors listed here.

In the chart below, the left column contain operators for use on Lexis, while the right column contain operators for use on Westlaw.  This chart can also be downloaded as a PDF at the bottom of this page. 

 

Operators That Narrow Results
Purpose Lexis Westlaw
Terms must appear as an exact phrase

"exact phrase"

"fair use"

"exact phrase"

"fair use"
Both terms must be present

AND, &

"fair use" AND documentary

AND, &

"fair use" AND documentary
Terms must be in the same paragraph

/p, w/p

Lexis processes these commands as /75

"fair use" /p documentary

/p, w/p

 

"fair use" /p documentary
Terms must be in the same sentence

/s, w/s

Lexis processes these commands as /25

"fair use" /s documentary

/s, w/s

 

"fair use" /s documentary
Terms must be within a certain number of words of each other

/number, w/number, near/number

"fair use" /5 documentary

/number

"fair use" /5 documentary
Terms must be within a certain number of words of each other, and the first term precedes the second

+number, pre/number

"fair use" +5 documentary

+number

"fair use" +5 documentary
Terms must appear at least a certain number of times

ATLEASTnumber(word or "exact phrase")

ATLEAST3(documentary)

ATLEASTnumber(word or "exact phrase")

ATLEAST3(documentary)
Terms must not be present

AND NOT excludedterm

AND NOT vimeo

%excludedterm, BUT NOT excludedterm

BUT NOT vimeo

Broadening Your Search (Too Few Results)

If your search retrieves too few results, you can broaden your search by using OR or root expanders.

In the chart below, the left column contains operators for use on Lexis, while the right column contains operators for use on Westlaw.  This chart can also be downloaded as a PDF at the bottom of this page. 

Operators that Broaden Results
Purpose Lexis Westlaw
Either term must be present

OR

documentary OR movie OR film

OR

documentary OR movie OR film
Search for a root plus an unlimited number (zero or more) of additional characters

root!

If you search for a singular word, Lexis automatically finds regular plurals (-s, -es, and -ies)

docu! for documaentary, docuseries, document

root!

If you search for a singular word, Westlaw automatically finds regular and irregular plurals (eg. child/children)

docu! for documaentary, docuseries, document
Search for words that begin and end with the same letters, with a wildcard in the middle

On Lexis, * replaces zero or more characters.  When used as a suffix, Lexis interprets * as !

d*g for dog, dig, or digging

On Westlaw, * replaces zero or one character.

 

d*g for dog, dig, or digging

Additional Resources