soliperformance.blogg.se - Boolean search google examples

Boolean search google examples series#

These can be individual terms, or groups of synonyms linked by OR and grouped with parentheses, or even entire complex search strings. The AND connector requires everything linked by the AND to appear in the search results.So now our search string is: (photocop! OR reproduc!) (class! OR educat!) "copyright infringement".We're interested in "copyright infringement" - not copyright by itself and infringement by itself - so we can put that phrase in quotation marks.

Boolean search google examples series#

Quotation marks make sure we're searching for a series of words as a phrase - those exact words, in that order - not just as individual words appearing anywhere in the document.

(We'll deal with copyright infringement next.) Let's do that with all our terms where it makes sense: (photocop! OR reproduc!) (class! OR educat!).

What if the court writes about reproducing material but not reproduction? Or educational material, not education? Putting an exclamation point (!) at the end of a string makes sure we're searching for all possible endings.

Similarly, with classroom, let's try education too: (classroom OR education). Since either of those terms would be useful for us, let's link them together with an "OR" and group them with parentheses: (photocopy OR reproduction).

Photocopy is pretty specific - a court might also discuss reproductions more broadly.

Step Two: Synonyms, Root Expanders, & Quotation Marks Photocopies, classroom, and copyright infringement look like the key terms in this prompt. You're researching whether and how making photocopies of copyrighted material for classroom use could be considered copyright infringement. Finally, use search operators to specify relationships between your terms. First, brainstorm search terms - what terms are used in your research question or fact pattern that seem significant, or what terms would you expect to show up in any case discussing this issue? Second, add possible synonyms, root expanders, and quotation marks around phrases to make sure you catch all different forms of your terms. Terms and connector search strings can look complicated (and sometimes they are!), but it's not hard to build useful searches and refine them if you follow a simple process. If you're checking the help section of a database (always a good idea!) and it lists Boolean searching as AND, OR, and NOT, check to see if there is also a section with a different title that covers other search operators.

Terminology Note: Sometimes you'll see terms and connectors searches called "Boolean searches." Technically, Boolean searching just means use of AND, OR, or NOT, but it's sometimes used to refer to all the other search operators too (like the proximity operator /p).

(reproduc! OR photocop!) /s (class! OR educat!) AND "copyright infringement" "Endangered Species Act" AND "sea turtles" /p habitat!Ĭlassroom photocopies copyright infringement The below chart compares natural language search examples with terms and connectors search examples. This search will guarantee that you will retrieve all federal cases that contain (1) the exact phrase "first sale doctrine" (2) the term "textbook" or "textbooks" and (3) the term "copyright" in each case included in the set of results. An advanced search using terms and connectors guarantees that you will retrieve the universe of cases exactly as you have specified.įor example, you can conduct an advanced search for "first sale doctrine" AND textbook! AND copyright across all federal court cases on either Westlaw or Lexis. As you learn more about a topic, you will likely want to use terms and connectors searches because you can exert more control over the results. For natural language searches, results are retrieved based on a database's algorithm. Nature language searching is like searching on Google and can be useful when exploring a topic completely new to you.