Module 2 : Assessment Tool

Assessment Tool

There are four questions and answers that I would like to review.

1.   On Lexis Advance, when running a terms and connectors search, you must enclose phrases such as “summary judgment” or “res ipsa loquitur” in quotation marks since spaces between words are interpreted as ORs.
   1. The answer is FALSE.  
   2. However, you would need to use the quotation marks  in Westlaw Edge because spaces between words are interpreted as the word OR in terms and connectors searcheds.
   3. https://legal.thomsonreuters.com/content/dam/ewp-m/documents/legal/en/pdf/quick-reference-guides/tr906479-how-to-search-with-boolean-terms-and-connectors.pdf
2. The order of the operation is the same for both Westlaw and Lexis Advance.
   1. The answer is TRUE.
   2. The terms and connectors operate in this order:
      1. Parentheses
      2. OR
      3. Proximity Connectors
      4. AND
      5. NOT
3.  You want to retrieve all documents for a pedestrian who is blind, sightless, or has a vision impairment (impairment of vision, vision is impaired, etc.)
   1. blind! OR sightless OR vision /5 impair! /s pedestrian
   2. Is this search correctly formatted?
   3. NO, not correctly formatted.
   4. This is the correct formatting:
      1. blind! OR sightless OR (vision /5 impair!) /s pedestrian.

4. You want to retrieve documents about a dog or canine or German Shepherd biting or scratching.

   1. dog OR canine OR “german shepherd” /S bite OR scratch

   2. Is this search correctly formatted?
   3. The answer is NO.
   4. The search is not correctly formatted.  The verbs should be truncated.
   5. This is a the search formatted correctly.
      1. dog OR canine OR “german shepard” /s bit! OR scratch!
   6. bit! would include bit, bite, bites, bitten, biting
   7. scratch! would include scratch, scratching, scratches

Please send let me know if you would like to discuss further.  swise@law.miami.edu