Searching on Westlaw Australia

Transcription

1 Searching on Westlaw Australia Natural Language Search - Natural Language enables you to use plain English to retrieve relevant documents. This may include statements, questions or a collection of terms. - Natural Language is available in most Westlaw Australia databases and is excluded from Dialog Corporation databases. - Retrieved information is ranked according to concentration of the terms entered. More unique terms are given a higher relevance and as a default, 100 documents will be retrieved. Documents of higher relevance are ranked at the top of the result list. Method 1. Define your factual and legal issue(s). 2. Find a relevant database by using the Directory or by entering the database identifier. 3. Click on Natural Language hyper text link above the Search Query Box (if Natural Language is bold black then you are already using the Natural Language query). 4. Type the description of your issue in the text box. 5. Click Search. Help Centre Use the online thesaurus to select related concepts. Click Thesaurus after you type your description. Add Date Restriction Click on arrow to add a date restriction Search Screen To specify which concepts in your description must be included in or excluded from retrieved documents, click Control Concepts. Add Other Restrictions Click on arrow to add a fields restriction, fields searching is limited in Natural Language and varies from database to database Rerun a recent search Select a search from the Recent Queries drop-down list and click Search. 1 SEARCHING ON WESTLAW AUSTRALIA

2 Search Screen Add or Delete a Database Add additional databases with a comma to a maximum of 10, Change the database or delete a database Search a recent database Select a recent database and click Update Database Selection Change Database Screen Search a favourite database Select a favourite database and click Update Database Selection SEARCHING ON WESTLAW AUSTRALIA 2

3 Terms and Connectors - Terms and Connectors enables you to enter a search query which consists of key terms from your issue, and connectors specifying the relationship between those terms. For example, you can specify that your terms appear in the same sentence or paragraph. - Terms and Connectors is available for all Westlaw Australia databases. - Retrieved information for case law is ranked according to court hierarchy and then reverse chronological date order. Other databases are ranked by reverse chronological date order (journals), numerical order, or alphabetical order. The quantity of retrieved documents can be up to 10,000 documents. Method 1. Define your factual and legal issue(s). 2. Find a relevant database by using the Directory or by entering the database identifier. 3. Click on the Terms and Connectors hyper text link above the search query box (if Terms and Connectors is bold black then you are already using the Terms and Connectors query). 4. From your issue description, identify the key and unique terms only. 5. Remove common or stop words eg the, of, your. 6. Select Connectors to extend or restrict your search and to grammatically connect your terms. 7. Select Field Restrictions to narrow your search to particular fields of a document (optional). 8. Type your query in the text box and click Search. Connectors/Expanders reference list Examples of how to use connectors/expanders Type the following search: order /p twin! /p surg! /p separ! New Double-click Menus Double click on the connector, field or date restriction to add to your query Dates Template Add a date restriction by using the dates template Connectors/ Expanders Menu Search Screen Fields Template Construct your search by using the fields template Fields Restrictions Menu Date Restrictions Menu 3 SEARCHING ON WESTLAW AUSTRALIA

4 Searching Databases FORMATTING A TERMS AND CONNECTORS QUERY Searching for Compound Words A compound word may appear as one word, as a hyphenated word or as two separate words. If your search term is a compound word, use its hyphenated form to retrieve all variations. For example: Type share-holder To retrieve shareholder share-holder share holder Search for Abbreviations Abbreviations may appear with or without periods or spaces. To retrieve the various forms of an abbreviation, enter it with periods and without spaces. For example: Type r.s.c. To retrieve r.s.c. r.s.c. rsc r s c Using the Root Expander The root expander (!) is used to retrieve words with variant endings. The root expander must always be placed at the end of a term. For example: Type contribut! To retrieve contributed contributor contributing contribution contributory Note: Plurals and possessive forms are automatically retrieved without a root expander. Using the Universal Character The universal character (*) is used to represent once variable character. You can place the universal character anywhere in a term except at the beginning. For example: Type gr*w To retrieve grew grow Note: When you place the universal character at the end of a term, you specify the maximum length of that term. Using Connectors Use connectors to specify the relationships that should exist between search terms in your retrieved documents. For example: Type To Search for documents that contain & (and) Both terms a space (or) Either search term or both /s Terms in the same sentence /p Terms in the same paragraph /n Terms within n terms of each other (where n is a number) +n The first term preceding the second by n terms (where n is a number) +p The first term preceding the second within the same paragraph +s The first term preceding the second within the same sentence Terms appearing in the same order as in the quotation marks Type To exclude documents that contain % (but not) Search terms following the percent symbol SEARCHING ON WESTLAW AUSTRALIA 4

5 Fields Documents on Westlaw Australia are divided into searchable components called fields. Each field contains a specific type of information. Rather than searching the entire document, you can restrict your search to one or more fields. Doing so saves searching and browsing time and makes your search more efficient. To restrict your Terms and Connectors search to a specific field, type the field name or abbreviation followed by your search terms enclosed in parentheses. The following pages contain examples of commonly used fields in: - Australian Statutes - Australian Cases - United Kingdom Statutes - United Kingdom Cases - United States Statutes - United States Cases. 5 SEARCHING ON WESTLAW AUSTRALIA

6 COMMONLY USED FIELDS IN AUSTRALIAN STATUTES For example, to retrieve Section 7A of the Tradesman s Rights Regulations Act 1946 use the Title (ti) and the Caption fields (ca): ti,ca( tradesmen s rights & 7A ) Jurisdiction (jur) Title (ti) Section Number Name (ca) Citation (ci) Preliminary (pr) Currency (cu) Text (te) Historical Notes (hn) SEARCHING ON WESTLAW AUSTRALIA 6

7 COMMONLY USED FIELDS IN AUSTRALIAN CASES For example, to retrieve the Ex Parte Epeabaka case use the Title field (ti) ti( ex parte epeabaka ) Citation (ci) Title (ti) Court (co) Date (da) Preliminary (pr) Panel (pa) Keywords (kw) Synopsis (sy) Opinion (op) Judge (ju) Order (ord) Representation (rep) Footnotes (fn) 7 SEARCHING ON WESTLAW AUSTRALIA

8 COMMONLY USED FIELDS IN UNITED KINGDOM STATUTES Citation (ci) Preliminary (pr) Year (ye) Caption (ca) Text (te) Legislative Footnote (lfn) SEARCHING ON WESTLAW AUSTRALIA 8

9 COMMONLY USED FIELDS IN UNITED KINGDOM CASES Citation (ci) Title (ti) Court (co) Panel (pa) Year (ye) Preliminary (pr) Descriptive-text (dt) Summary (su) References-cited (rc) Representation (rep) Judge (ju) Opinion (op) Lead (le) Separate-opinion (sop) Notes (no), Prelim (pr) 9

10 COMMONLY USED FIELDS IN UNITED STATES STATUTES Caption (ca) Text (te) Credit (cr) Historical Notes (hn) References (re) Annotations (an) SEARCHING ON WESTLAW AUSTRALIA 10

11 COMMONLY USED FIELDS IN UNITED STATES CASES Preliminary (pr) Title (ti) Preliminary (pr) Docket Number (dn) Synopsis (su) Digest (di) Topic (to) Words-Phrases (wp) Headnote (he) Attorney (at) Synopsis (sy) Judge (ju) Opinion (op) Lead (le) Concurring (con) and/or Dissenting (dis) Citation (ci) 11 SEARCHING ON WESTLAW AUSTRALIA

12 For information on any aspect of Westlaw Australia including research assistance, contact us: Phone: visit westlaw.com.au SEARCHING ON WESTLAW AUSTRALIA 12