Boolean Logic and Search Connectors
Up until now, the majority of the posts have focused on searching free web sources. While the below search segments and connector do work in some non-pay websites, they are predominantly for use on the pay service of LexisNexis and other services that accept Boolean logic. LexisNexis is a search tool that any serious investigator should have access to and be adept at using. The below search terms and connectors all work in Lexis and can be combined and crafted to provide extremely specific search results. Below is a full list of LexisNexis search segments and connectors and some example search queries.
SEARCH CONNECTORS
and: Searches for all search terms anywhere in the same article.
or: Searches for any search term anywhere in the same article.
and not: Searches for a search term and not another search term.
w/N: Searches for search terms within the number of words specified .
pre/N: Similar to the “w/N” connector, except the first search term must proceed the second term by the specified number of words..
w/p: Searches for search terms within same the paragraph.
w/seg: Searches for search terms within the same segment.
w/s: Searches for search terms within the same sentence
SEARCH SEGMENTS
CAPS: The beginning letters of search terms must appear capitalized
(CAPS(Samuel w/2 Israel))
ALLCAPS: All letters in the search term must appear capitalized
(ALLCAPS(TCBY))
NOCAPS: No letters in the search term can appear capitalized
(NOCAPS(TCBY))
PLURAL: Search term must be the plural version.
(PLURAL(Jobs))
SINGULAR: Search term must be the singular version.
(SINGULAR(Job))
ATLEAST: Requires the search term must to appear “at least” the specified number of times in a document.
ATLEAST10(Bayou Investment)
DATE AFTER: Searches for records after a specified date.
((Samuel w/2 Israel) and (date aft 05/05/2008))
DATE BEFORE: Searches for records before a specified date.
((Samuel w/2 Israel) and (date before 05/05/2008))
DATE ON: Searches for records on a specific date.
((Samuel w/2 Israel) and (date on 05/05/2008))
WILDCARDS
! - Use an exclamation mark (!) to find a root word plus all the words made by adding letters to the end of it.
* - Use an asterisk (*) to replace characters anywhere in a term, except the first character. Use one asterisk for each character you want to replace.
EXAMPLES
Now using the above logic, if I wanted to search for information on Samuel Israel, my initial query would look like this:
(Samuel w/2 Israel) - Using the “w/2″ connector would find any information where Samuel is mentioned within 2 words of Israel. This way, if Israel is ever mentioned with his middle name, this query would also retrieve that result.
If I want to search for any information where Samuel Israel is mentioned in conjunction with the hedge fund he defrauded, Bayou Management, my query would look like this:
(Samuel w/2 Israel) and (Bayou Management)
Conversely, if I any to find information about Israel, but not Bayou Management, my query would look like this:
(Samuel w/2 Israel) and not (Bayou Management)
If I want to find information about Samuel Israel or Bayou Management, my query would look like this:
(Samuel w/2 Israel) or (Bayou Management)
If I wanted to find information on Israel, on the specific date he turned himself in, July 2, 2008, my query would look like this:
(Samuel w/2 Israel) and (date on 07/02/2008)
In future posts, I will expand more on the uses of these connectors and segments.