| Advanced Legal Research | Robert Harrison, Blair Kauffman, Lisa Spar |
| Spring 1998 |
| LEXIS AND WESTLAW CONNECTORS AND SEARCH TERMS | |||
| LEXIS | WESTLAW | ||
| Connector | Description | Connector | Description |
| and | both terms appear | and, & | both terms appear |
| or | either term appears | or , space | either term appears |
| /s | within same sentence | /s | within same sentence |
| /p | within same parag. | /p | within same parag. |
| /#
/5 |
within '#' words,
e.g. within 5 words |
/#
/5 |
within '#' words,
e.g. within 5 words |
| pre/# | precedes by 'n' words | +n | precedes by 'n' words |
| and not X | X cannot appear in the document | but not X
(%) |
X cannot appear in the document |
| phrase | as typed
e.g. habeas corpus |
phrase " " | enclosed in quotes
e.g. "habeas corpus" |
| ! | root expander
e.g. employ! |
! | root expander
e.g. employ! |
| * | single character placeholder | * | single character place holder |
| atleast(n) | term will appear atleast n times | n/a | n/a |
| allcaps(RICO)
caps(North) nocaps(department) |
specify capitalization | n/a | n/a |
| n/a | n/a | key | key number service |
| n/a | n/a | 95k292 | search term for Contracts topic, key number 292 (fraud) |
| name(roe and wade) | search by name of documents | ti(roe & wade) | search by title of documents |
| and date is X
e.g. and date is 1/1/97 |
search for documents from a specific date | and da( X )
and da(1/1/97) |
search for documents on a specific date |
| and date bef X
e.g. and date bef 1/1/97 |
search for documents before a certain date | and da(bef X )
e.g. and da(bef 1/1/97) |
search for documents before a set date |
| and date aft X
e.g. and date aft 1/1/97 |
search for documents after a certain date | and da(aft X )
e.g. and da(aft 1/1/97) |
search for documents after a certain date |
| and date aft X and date
bef Y
e.g. and date aft 1/1/95 and date bef 1/1/97 |
search for documents between certain dates | and da(aft X and bef Y)
e.g. and da( aft 1/1/95 and bef 1/1/97) |
search for documents between certain dates |
| LEXIS AND WESTLAW COMMANDS | |||
| LEXIS | WESTLAW | ||
| Command | Description | Command | Description |
| .np | next page | p | next page |
| .np# | jump # pages | p# | jump # pages |
| .nd | next document | r | next document |
| # (enter document number) | move to that document # | r# , # | move to that document # |
| .pp | previous page | r- | previous page |
| .se | segments | f | fields |
| m1 | modify existing search | q | modify query |
| .ns | new search | s | new search |
| .gu | to determine contents of file | scope | to determine contents of database |
| .cl | change library | db | change database |
| .cf | change file | n/a | n/a |
| .se (before choosing file) | price list of files | n/a | n/a |
| .pr | print document | pr d | print document |
| .pa | print multiple documents | pr ad; pr d# (e.g. pr d1-3) | print multiples documents |
| .pa | print cite list | pr l | print cite list |
| sh | shepardize | sh | shepardize |
| ac | autocite | ic | instacite |
| n/a | n/a | sp | Shepard's preview |
| n/a | n/a | qc | quick cite |
| resume | resume previous service | gb | go back one step |
| .es | exit service | map | trace steps |
| .kw | display in kwic format | t | display in term mode |
| .fu | display in full format | p | display in page mode |
| .ci | display in cite format | l | display cite list |
| .fo | focus search | loc | locate search |
| .ef | exit focus | xl | exit locate |
| .fr | Freestyle search | nat | Natural Language search |
| .bool | Boolean search | tc | Boolean search |
| .sk | browse most relevant portion of document in Freestyle | best | browse most relevant portion of document in Natural Language |
| .sort | change document order in Freestyle | sort | change document order in Natural Language |
| .where | location of search terms in Freestyle | n/a | n/a |
| .why | importance of terms | n/a | n/a |
| lexsee | find a case when you have a cite | fi | find a case or statute when you have a cite |
| lexstat | find a statute when you have a cite | fi | find a case or statute when you have a cite |
| r | displays your search | g | displays your query |
| p*# | star paging - displays text on a particular page | st# | star paging - displays text on a particular page |
| b | browse document in sequence (i.e. next statute section) | d
d+ d- |
browse document in sequence (i.e. next statute section) |
| b | exit browse | xd | exit browse |
