CHAPTER 10 - Computer Assisted Legal Research (CALR)

TIPS FOR COMPOSING ONLINE SEARCHES

Selecting Databases/Sources - it would be reasonable to search for that material in a database

that contain only materials of that kind. Lexis, Westlaw, and CD Asia Online provides numerous
sources of case law coming from various combination of courts, it must be searched under
jurisprudence section.

Composing Lexis, Westlaw, CD Asia Searches – two basic ways; Boolean search method, and
Natural Language Searching

Define your issues – determine the issues raised by your problem. Natural language searching
can sometimes give you a background regarding your issue.

Select search terms - once you have a clear idea of what your issues are, list down keyterms that you
think would result to your desired material.

Root expander – used at the end of the word to include words with variant endings, exclamation mark
for Lexis and Westlaw (!), star or asterisk for CD Asia Online (*)

Universal Character – used to include words with variant spellings or alternative letters. Star or asterisk
for Lexis and Westlaw (*), question mark for CD Asia Online (?)

Exact phrase search – enclose terms with quote marks (“”) to search for the exact phrase.

Proximity search - this advanced searching technique is used to avoid documents which terms are
scattered or spread across the page by limiting the proximity. Enclose the terms in quotation marks (“”)
followed by the tilde symbol (~) with the number representing the maximum number of words in
between the words in quotes. Ex. “universal human rights”~10

Fuzzy search - helpful when you are unsure of the exact spelling of the name or word by adding the tilde
symbol (~) at the end.

Shorthands - Can be used to find documents easily .

RA xxxx - Republic Act xxxx
CA - Commonwealth Act
EO - Executive Order
BP - Batas Pambansa
AO - Administrative Order
LOI - Letters of Instructions
PD - Presidential Decree
MO - Memorandum Order

Cross Reference and Cited in - Features in CD Asia which refers to related information elsewhere that is
used in the same document or where other sources have cited the said document.
Evaluate your search - evaluate your search results. When searching don’t include unnecessary or
non-specific terms. Be familiar with the topic and use simpler searches that contain the terms
most likely to be used in the documents dealing with the issue. After a search, terms are
automatically highlighted

Field Searching – Fields available in a certain source can be identified in the search box to
conduct an easier search.

Internet Research - Can be helpful because it can be a cheap alternative to Lexis, Westlaw,
Cdasia. Search engines like google, bing, yahoo, and others provide sufficient information but
also includes non-legal matter which may produce wrong or irrelevant results.

Strategies for Internet Research

 Learn how your favorite research engines operate
 Use more than one search engine for important projects
 Plan your searches
 Evaluate reliability