Introduction to Boolean
Searching
2017
Before we Begin: Index vs. Full-Text
Indexed databases
• Search based on subject matter or
concept
• Like digest searches
• Go to “Landlords” section, then
look up case
• Information already pre-sorted into
categories
• If information isn’t in the category,
you would miss it
Full-text databases
•
•
•
•
•
Search based on individual words
Like a Google search
Type in landlord
User specifies search terms
Search not limited to someone else’s
categorization
Yahoo search page circa 1998
Example of an indexed search database.
Google search circa 2016
Example of a full-text database
Before we Begin:
Boolean vs. Natural Language
Before we Begin: Know the Scope
Know the scope of what you’re searching (the “corpus”) so you aren’t guessing what’s in the database.
Case Law
Federal and state case law back to 1950**
Statutes
U.S. Code & official state statutes for D.C. plus 46 states
Other Regulations
Links to state and federal administrative regulations and codes (some are
searchable)
Court Rules
Links to state and federal courts rules (some are searchable)
Constitutions
Links to state and federal constitutions (a few are searchable)
Two things to keep in mind
Synonymy
• Words that can mean the same
thing
• Use synonyms for better results
• Ex. Car, vehicle, truck, van,
automobile
Ambiguity
• Words that can mean more than
one thing
• Avoid ambiguity by adding terms
or the “not” operator
• Ex: Negligence not criminal
Identify
concepts /
terms
Identify issue
Search process
A good search is like a dance —
general steps you follow with added
flourish to impress people
Craft a
search
Refine search
Review
results
Laying the Groundwork
Issues
• Government is trying to force wife to testify against her husband. They were married just prior
to the trial.
Legal principles
• Testimonial privilege / Communications privilege
• Compelled testimony
• Common law
Additional facts
• Criminal
• Spouse
Fastcase Boolean operators
Operator
Example
Description
AND, &
libel AND damages
Results must contain both “libel” and “damages”
OR
premarital OR prenuptial
Results must contain either “premarital” or “prenuptial”
NOT
negligence NOT criminal
Results must contain “negligence” but not the word “criminal”
w/3, /3
custody /15 interrogation
Results must contain “custody” w/in 15 words of “interrogation.”
*, !
testif*
Results must contain some variation of the stem “testif ” such as
testified, testify, testifying, etc.
?
mari?uana
Results must contain m-a-r-i-_-u-a-n-a with any letter substituted for
the question mark
“”
“estate tax”
Results must contain the exact phrase “estate tax”
( )
(confront OR cross-examine)
Parentheses tells Fastcase to do the operations contained within it
before doing things outside
AND — dog AND bite
Dog
Dog
AND
bite
Bite
Only returns cases at the intersection —
ones containing both the words “right”
and “wrong.”
OR — car OR automobile
car OR vehicle
Car
Car
AND
Vehicle
.Vehicle
Returns all cases around the perimeter of
the two words — either those using the
word “car” or the word “automobile.”
NOT — speech NOT school
speech NOT school
Only returns cases mentioning “speech”
without referencing the word “school.”
Speech
School
speech NOT (school OR political)
speech NOT (school OR political)
school OR political
Political
Speech
Only returns cases mentioning
“speech,” but not mentioning
“school” or “political.”
School
speech AND public NOT (school OR political)
(speech AND public) NOT
(school OR political)
Speech
Political
The cases returned will use both the
words “speech” and “public” but won’t
use either the words “political” or
“school.”
Public
School
school OR political
Proximity or within — w/# or /#
custody /5 interrogation — return cases where custody appears within 5 words
of interrogation
Sample matches:
in-custody interrogation of a suspect . . . .
(w/1 matches.)
unless in-custody police interrogation is . . . .
(w/2 matches.)
interrogation while in custody may give . . . .
(w/3 matches.)
when in custody for purposes of interrogation . . . .
(w/4 matches.)
“Quotation marks”
“communications privilege” — returns only cases with that exact phrase
Sample matches:
. . . that the communications privilege encompassed within the same statute precludes . . .
. . . marital communications privilege is not applicable here because Mr. and Mrs. Irons
were estranged at the time of the conversations.
Not in search results:
. . . spouse may enjoy marital privileges from . . .
. . . the marital communications privilege may be waived . . .
General Note on The Plural Form
Remember to include your Plurals
• Fastcase does not automatically look for plurals in
Boolean searches
• If you want to include plurals, you have to tell the
engine to look for them by using a wildcard or root
expander
Root expander (*, !) — mar*
Return cases with at least one word that begins with “mar.”
• Pros:
• Useful for plurals, different tenses, gerunds, etc.
• Cons:
• Can slow down search times – if you just want to search plurals, OR is
faster
• Can be over-inclusive — see, e.g., maritime in this search.
Single letter wildcard — ?
myr??d
myriad
myraid
myr??d— return all cases with either
spelling (correct or wrong) of myriad
Order of Operations
W/5
•The “Within” operator runs first
AND
•The “And” operator is run second
NOT
•The “Exclude” operator runs third
OR
•The “Or” operator runs last
Parentheses — ()
Consider the following search: car
OR vehicle AND getaway
car OR vehicle AND getaway
What Fastcase actually sees:
(vehicle AND getaway) OR car
Subtle but important distinction
Correct:
Incorrect:
(car OR vehicle) AND getaway
car OR (vehicle AND getaway)
Advanced Order of Operations
Consider the following searches:
1
A:
2
3
4
Rule* /5 “803(5)” AND knowledge OR recall NOT memory
3
4
2
1
B: knowledge OR recall NOT memory AND Rule* /5 “803(5)”
2
3
1
4
C: Rule* /5 “803(5)” AND (knowledge OR recall) NOT memory
A (wrong): 157,342 results; B (wrong): 1,038,488 results; C (right): 99 results
Back to our Example
Issues
• Government is trying to force wife to testify against her husband. They were
married just prior to the trial.
Legal principles
• Testimonial privilege / Communications privilege
• Compelled testimony
• Common law
Additional facts
• Criminal
• Spouse
Concept
Keyword and operator
Testimonial privilege
Communications
privilege

(testimon* or marital) /3
privileg* AND
Compelled testimony

Spouse

(compel* or requir*) /5 testif*
AND
(spous* or husband or wife)
Criminal trial

NOT civil
(testimon* or marital) /3 privileg* AND (compel* or
requir*) /5 testif* AND (spous* or husband or wife)
NOT civil
First Search
Second Search
(testimon* or marital)
/3 privileg* AND

(testimon* or marital) /3
privileg* /15
(spous* or husband or
wife)
(compel* or requir*) /5
testif* AND

(spous* or husband or wife)
AND
(compel* or requir* or forc*)
/5 testif*
NOT civil


NOT (civil or “attorney /2
privileg*)
Use Forecite to
enhance your results
Forecite: Fastcase has identified 3 additional decisions that
may be relevant to your research topic, but do not contain
one or more of your search terms.
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