Connectors

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Connectors

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Connectors
host! /p intoxicat! or drnk! or alcohol! /s
guest

• After you have decided on the terms that you will
  use in your search, the next step is to connect
  each key term and its alternatives with the other
  key terms and their alternatives.
• A connector specifies the relationship between
  the terms on either side of the connector.

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The Most Commonly Used ConnectorsSpace Or
host! /p intoxicat! drnk! alcohol! /s
guestorhost! /p intoxicat! or drnk! or
alcohol! /s guest

• A space between two terms means or.
• You could type in the word or if that is
  easier to remember.
• In the query above, host! and guest are required
  terms along with the expansion of any one, two,
  or three of the terms intoxicat! or drnk! or
  alcohol!.

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The Most Commonly Used Connectors/p Same
Paragraphhost! /p intoxicat! drnk! alcohol! /s
guest

• The /p connector requires that the terms on one
  side of the /p connector be in the same paragraph
  as the terms on the other side of the connector.
  No particular order is required.
• In the above search any expansion of host! must
  be in the same paragraph as any expansion of
  intoxicat! or drnk! or alcohol! (or any
  expansions of the any two or all three of the
  alternative terms).

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The Most Commonly Used Connectors/s Same
Sentence host! /p intoxicat! drnk! alcohol!
/s guest

• The /s connector requires that the terms on one
  side of the /s connector be in the same sentence
  as the terms on the other side of the connector.
  No particular order is required.
• In the query above, guest must be in the same
  sentence of the expansion of any one intoxicat!
  or drnk! or alcohol! (or any expansions of the
  any two or all three of the alternative terms).

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More Connectors Same Document

• host! /p intoxicat! drnk! alcohol! /s guest
  insurance
• The connector requires that the terms on one
  side of the connector be in the same document
  as the terms on the other side, whether two terms
  or 200 pages apart.
• A document with good on page two and faith on
  page 50 most likely wont be discussing a
  good-faith issue.
• The connector is valuable only in limited
  situations.

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More Connectors Same Document

• The connector is valuable in the following
  situations.
• If you think one term in your query may not
  appear near your other query terms in the
  documents you want to retrieve, use the
  connector.
• host! /p intoxicat! drnk! alcohol! insurance
• Use the connector when you are searching for
  terms in several sections of the document. (More
  about this type of search later).

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More ConnectorsQuotation Marks ( ) Phrase

• Quotation marks around a phrase or term of art,
  such as limited liability, are used only when
  the concept is invariably stated the same way
  each time it is used.
• Consider whether the phrase could appear another
  way, such as liability was limited.
• A safer search would be to require limited and
  liability to be within the same sentence or
  within a specified number or words of each other.
  

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More Connectors/n Number of Terms

• /n requires that the terms on one side of the /n
  connector be within a certain number of terms of
  those on the other side. No particular order is
  required and grammatical structure is ignored.
• liability /3 limited
• N represents any number between 1 and 250, for
  example, /3 or /150.
• /n is most often used when the words on either
  side should be fairly close together but are not
  invariably in the same order. liability /3
  limited would retrieve both limited liability
  and liability was limited.

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More Connectors The Plus Connectors () Order
the Terms

• s, p/, n connectors require that the terms on
  the left of the connector precede the terms on
  the right within the specified relationship.
• under-ground 4 tank
• This query requires that underground precedes
  tank by no more than four words. Any word(s) can
  appear between storage and tank.
• This connector is often used when a word must
  appear twice within the specified relationship.
  jones 5 jones could be used to find references
  to Jones v. Jones.

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Connectors and Expanders Reference List
Connectors/Expanders
A full list of all connectors and expanders with
brief explanations of their use can be accessed
from the Search page in westlaw.com.
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Reordering Connectors Use of Parentheses

• Words within parentheses are processed first and
  then treated as a unit.
• (defect! /s design!) product liability
  retrieves either any expansion of defect within
  the same sentence as any extension of design or
  product liability.
• Parentheses are useful when you are searching for
  citations to multiple statutes (42 3 1981) (15
  3 311) will retrieve mention of 42 USCA 1981 or
  15 USCA 311.

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Your Turn

• All the passengers getting off a flight from
  Miami are taken to a small room at the airport by
  the Miami police. They are questioned and their
  clothing and luggage are searched.
• What is the legal issue?
• Can police detain passengers search and seize
  their clothing and luggage without probable
  cause.
• What are your key terms?

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• search! seiz! /s clothing luggage back-pack
  /p airport air-plane plane probable cause
• search and seizure /p airport air-plane
  plane /p clothing luggage back-pack /p probable
  cause
• Above are two possible searches. There are many
  other possible searches.
• Neither search is right or wrong. Usually it
  takes a few tries before you retrieve the number
  of documents you need to feel confident that you
  have found enough relevant documents to continue
  your research, but not so many as to be
  overwhelming.

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Your Turn Again

• Senator Jones has been insisting that the right
  to contribute any amount to to a political
  candidate is constitutionally protected and any
  limitation would be a violation of the First
  Amendment right of free speech. Is he right?
• What is the legal issue? Pick out the key terms,
  add reasonable alternatives, and decide on the
  connectors that will join each term and its
  alternative with the other terms and their
  alternatives.
• You probably wont have a problem at all!