Introduction to Online Legal Research  (Westlaw and Lexis)
Professor Callister


Session: Fall - Spring
Working with databases with tables of contents.Using clip and alert services to stay current.Keeping track of your searches.Practice problems for the Fall Session of Westlaw and Lexis instruction.
Segment and restricted field searching.Natural language search on both Lexis and Westlaw.How to find similar documents using Lexis "More Like This" searching.How to searcher for similar cases using West Key Numbers.How to check status with Shepards and KeyCite.

Lexis:   Segment Searching (Case Law Example)

  
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There are many different segments (similar to Westlaw's fields) which you can choose from in this database.  Each database has its own unique group of segments.  The two which are of the most interest to you are "core-terms" and "coreconcepts."  Both of these segments are used for subject searching.  "Coreconcepts" is a segment, the content of which is written by Lexis editors.  It contains summaries and terminology prepared by an editor about legal points in the case.  "Core-terms," on the other hand, is a segment containing terms select by a computer indexing algorithm as being the best to describe the document.  Either one of these segments can help with a subject search (but each will produce different results).

© 2002, Paul D. Callister