Return to top of page
Justis 5 FAQs – Searching Techniques
- Basic searching
- Searching in fields
- Searching for dates
- Quick Reference Guide – Using search operators
- Quick Reference Guide – Finding the right terms for a search
Basic searching
- Q – How do I search for two words near each other in the same document?
- Q – How do I search for two words that appear anywhere in the same document?
- Q – When would I need to use round brackets/parentheses in my search query?
- Q – How do I search for the words medical, medicine, medicines, medicinal etc.?
- Q – How do I search for a phrase?
- Q – Why do I get a Syntax Error message?
Q – How do I search for two words near each other in the same document?
A – Use proximity operators to narrow a search, but with greater precision than the 'and' operator. In order to be retrieved, not only must the documents contain both terms, but the terms must occur within a certain distance of each other. For example:
| A within 25 of B | A must be within 25 characters of B |
| A within 40 after B | A must be within 40 characters of B, and must be after B |
| A within 10 before B | A must be within 10 characters of B, and must be before B |
| A near B | A must be within 40 characters of B. It is the same as A within 40 of B |
Proximity operators are very useful when searching for phrases, especially when a document may have been translated from another language. For example, 'product liability' may have been translated as 'liability for the product'. To find all mentions of the phrase, you should search for product near liability.
Q – How do I search for two words that appear anywhere in the same document?
A – In either the Free Text box on the Form Search screen or the text box on the General Search screen, type in the first word, then a space, then the word 'and', then a space, then the second word. The word 'and' will appear in blue to indicate that it is an operator e.g. health and safety.
Q – When would I need to use round brackets/parentheses in my search query?
A – Use parentheses to define the logical order in which a multiple-term query is performed. For example, in a case law database a search in the Judges field for
russell and (stuart-smith or megaw)
finds reports where L. J. Russell and either L. J. Stuart-Smith or Lord Megaw were present. Without the parentheses, Justis 5 would find reports featuring both L. J. Russell and L. J. Stuart-Smith or Lord Megaw alone.
Q – How do I search for the words medical, medicine, medicines, medicinal etc.?
A – In the query box, type in medic* and click the search button. This will bring up all documents containing the word root medic... .
Q – How do I search for a phrase?
A – In the query box, type in the words of your phrase and click the search button.
However, if your phrase contains a word which is used as an operator by Justis 5 e.g. and, or, not, of (they will appear in blue text) you need to surround the entire phrase with double quotation marks e.g. "duty of care". If you search for a phrase which contains an operator and you do not use the quotation marks, then you will get a Syntax Error message on your screen.
Searching in Fields
Q – How can I find information about a particular field?
A – There are three ways to do this.
If you are using the Form Search screen, click in the text box for a field and then press the F1 key on your keyboard.
If you are selecting from a list of fields, click on a field name and then press the F1 key on your keyboard.
Click 'Help' on the menu bar at the top of the Justis 5 window, and then click 'Contents & Index'. Click the 'Index' tab, and type the name of the field into the text box. In the list of topics, double-click the name of the appropriate database below the name of the field.
Searching for Dates
Q – How do I search for a range of dates?
A – Justis 5 provides a number of operators that work with dates. The before operator allows you to look for dates before one that you specify. The after operator allows you to look for dates after one that you specify. The from and to operators allow you to look for dates between two dates that you specify.
For more information, look for 'Date search operators' in the Justis 5 on-screen Help. The Help for a particular field will tell you whether it supports date range searching.
6th October 2006
