Mastering Boolean Searching with Fastcase
Boolean searching, a powerful tool, uses specific operators to refine search terms and retrieve precise results. Learn about its history, essential concepts, operators, and tips to enhance your search strategy effectively with Fastcase.
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TEACHING BOOLEAN USING FASTCASE
BOOLEAN SEARCHING Uses specific, pre-defined operators to specify which search terms are important and how they should be related. Examples: Fire and apprentice Fraud not criminal Rule* /5 803(5) AND knowledge OR recall NOT memory Benefits: High-level precision Downsides: Requires consideration as to what terms are important Requires review of search terms to ensure correct operators are used for the desired relationship of terms.
A BIT OF HISTORY Formal logics were initially developed in ancient times in Ancient Egypt, China, & India. George Boole (1815-1864): first recorded modern proponent of using logical statements to express mathematical terms. Boolean logic is now the basis of modern binary, as well as the most precise system of searching documents (also known as Keyword searching)
TWO THINGS TO KEEP IN MIND Synonymy Ambiguity Words that can mean the same thing Use synonyms for better results Ex. Car, vehicle, truck, van, automobile Words that can mean more than one thing Avoid ambiguity by adding terms or the not operator Ex: Negligence not criminal
FASTCASE BOOLEAN OPERATORS Operator Operator Example Example Description 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 Only returns cases at the intersection ones containing both the words right and wrong. Dog Bite Dog & bite
OR CAR OR AUTOMOBILE car OR vehicle Returns all cases around the perimeter of the two words either those using the word car or the word automobile. Car .Vehicle Car & Vehicle
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 School Only returns cases mentioning speech, but not mentioning school or political.
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. X School Public school OR political
PROXIMITY OR WITHIN W/# OR /# custody w/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.) custody for purposes of interrogation . . . . (w/4 matches.)
QUOTATION MARKS Sample matches: . . . that the communications privilege encompassed within the same statute precludes . . . communications privilege returns only cases with that exact phrase . . . 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 Full text search engines do 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.
ORDER OF OPERATIONS The Within operator runs first W/5 AND The And operator is run second The Exclude operator runs third NOT The Or operator runs last OR
PARENTHESES WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THE USER DOES NOT USE IT What the user entered: car OR vehicle AND getaway What the Search actually saw: car OR vehicle AND getaway
SUBTLE BUT IMPORTANT DISTINCTION Correct: Incorrect: (car OR vehicle) AND getaway car OR (vehicle AND getaway)
ADVANCED ORDER OF OPERATIONS Consider the following searches: Rule* /5 803(5) AND knowledge OR recall NOT memory A: B: knowledge OR recall NOT memory AND Rule* /5 803(5) Rule* /5 803(5) AND (knowledge OR recall) NOT memory C: A (wrong): 157,342 results; B (wrong): 1,038,488 results; C (right): 99 results
Concept Keyword and operator Testimonial privilege Communications privilege Compelled testimony (compel* or (testimon* or marital) /3 privileg* AND requir*) /5 testif* AND Spouse (spous* or husband or wife) Criminal trial NOT civil
((TESTIMON* OR MARITAL) /3 PRIVILEG*) AND ((COMPEL* OR REQUIR*) /5 TESTI*) AND (SPOUS* OR HUSBAND OR WIFE) NOT CIVIL
