1. Electronic Research Basics demand of using Computer-assisted research has become increasingly in demand.

General Theories COMPLETENESS Full-text records Abstract/Index - news articles on the records Philippine Inquirers - online library website catalog (http://www.inquirer.net) - Court decisions at Supreme court website * The level of completeness is a factor when searching for a resource STRUCTURE Highly structured Limited structure - limited records but - unlimited records highly structure format but no structure facilitates search by - Internet subject, author, title - library card catalog What is Boolean Search? Boolean searches allow you to combine words and phrases using the words AND, OR, NOT and NEAR (otherwise known as Boolean operators) to limit, widen, or define your search. Is Boolean Search Complicated? Using Boolean Logic to broaden and/or narrow your search is not as complicated as it sounds; in fact, you might already be doing it. Boolean logic is just the term used to describe certain logical operations that are used to combine search terms in many search engine databases and directories on the Net. It's not rocket science, but it sure sounds fancy (try throwing this phrase out in common conversation!). Basic Boolean Search Operators - AND Using AND narows a search by combining terms; it will retrieve documents that use both the search terms you specify, as in this example: Attorney AND malpractice Basic Boolean Search Operators - OR Using OR broadens a search to include results that contain either of the words you type in. OR is a good tool to use when there are several common spellings or synonyms of a word, as in this example:

LINGUISTIC DIFFICULTIES Synonymy Ambiguity - problem of having - multiple concepts all many ways to express being expressed in the a single concept same words - death penalty, death - counsellor = sentence, and capital attorney; counsellor = punishment express social worker the same concept - solicitor = attorney; solicitor = sales person * Electronic research only deals with words, not concept * Must account for possible synonyms for the concept being sought EFFICIENCY MEASURES Precision Recall - finding only what - finding everything you want to find you want to find * No one but the researcher knows how precise or comprehensive the search needs to be SEARCH APPROACHES Subject approach Keyword approach - one way to - searching for compensate for appearance of your synonymity and search term ambiguity - character strings - person or program only, not concepts has already analyzed - helpful when the the item and assigned concept is new and not a subject descriptor to yet incorporated in it subject headings - old library catalog - Yahoo or Google

Attorney OR malpractice

Basic Boolean Search Operators - NOT Using NOT will narrow a search by excluding certain search terms. NOT retrieves documents that contain one, but not the other, of the search terms you enter, as in this example: Attorney NOT malpractice

Malpractice NOT attorney

Keep in mind that not all search engines and directories support Boolean terms. However, most do, and you can easily find out if the one you want to use supports this technique by consulting the FAQ's (Frequently Asked Questions) on a search engine or directory's home page. 3. Field and Segment Searching -divided into parts that reflect the divisions in the documents themselves/ -the more highly structured the database, the more parts each record will have. 4. Lex Libris, Lexis, Westlaw Basics - Lex Libris for Philippine Laws and Jurisprudence - Lexis, Westlaw for American Laws and Jurisprudence - All are extensive, highly-structured, and law-focused ADVANTAGES: - focused, reliable content - entire database is indexed - search mechanisms remain consistent - highly structured 5. Lex Libris: Organization of Materials -11 volumes Volume 1. Laws (Philippine Edition) -most extensive compilation of Philippine laws on CDROM -full-text versions of the Philippine Constitutions, Republic Acts, Mga Batas Pambansa, Presidential Decrees, Executive Orders, Presidential Proclamations and Letters of Instructions.

Tools for Improving Search Efficiency Boolean searching Field searching - mostly internet - more helpful on searching highly structured searches in Lex Libris, Lexis, and Westlaw

2. Boolean Searching

-Other official acts of legislative or statutory character are also compiled here. Volume 2. Taxation (Philippine Edition) -most comprehensive publication on the subject of taxation -contains the rulings, opinions, memoranda, circulars, VAT Rulings and official acts of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, international tax treaties and local ordinances -also included here are related laws, decisions of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals and Court of Tax Appeals, as well as executive issuances. Volume 3. Jurisprudence (The Supreme Court Reports) -decisions of the Supreme Court since 1901 constitute the third volume of the series -patterned after the Philippine Reports, this CD ROM also contains the text of available case syllabi and synopses- and over 35, 000 judicial opinions. Volume 4. Department of Justice (Opinions of the Secretary) -first release for 1997 -for the first time, the complete collection of opinions of the Philippine Secretary of Justice, since 1939, Is available in easy reference and research form. Volume 5. Local Autonomy and Local Government -first multimedia compact disc of the series -contains thematic compilation of policy instruments on the subject -features full text information issued and promulgated by the Supreme Court, by three Constitutional Commissions and thirty national government agencies and offices. -also includes video interviews with notable local government personalities Volume 6. Environment and Natural Resources -first and most comprehensive information gathered from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and its attached agencies, published in CD-ROM. -relates laws and statutes, presidential issuances, jurisprudence, policy issuances and decisions, Permits, licenses and tenurial instruments Volume 7. Labor and Social Legislation -released last November -contains related statutes and jurisprudence as well as issuances from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and its affiliated offices Volume 8. Elections -contains statutes, presidential issueance, DOJ opinions and jurisprudence related to the topic of Elections, implementing rules and regulations of Electoral Tribunals, Comelec rules on procedure,Electoral Tribunal decisions, and Commissions on Elections issuance are likewise contained in the first ofA kind CD ROM publication -similarly d\featured here are the 1995 election results, list of accredited political parties and their platforms of governments and list of precincts in major cities and provinces of the Philippines. Volume 9. Trade Commerce and Industry -most comprehensice collection of materials on Trade Banking and Finance, Capital Markets, Insurance and Intellectual Property -contains a compilation of pertinent Supreme Court decisions, laws, issuances of various agencies such as the Department of Trade and Industry, Board of Investments, Department of Finance, Bureau of Customs, Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, Philippine Stock Exchange and other government offices. Volume 10. Securities and Exchange Commission

-fusion on accurate information officially provided by SEC and the research software engineering expertise provided by CD Asia. -new CD ROM edition contains SEC Related laws and jurisprudence, SEC Opinions, SEC Cases, other SEC Issuances namely: Orders, Memoranda, Circulars and Rules and Regulations. Volume 11. Family Law -carries new features such as a subject index and an interactive topical outline -the contents include pertinent laws, jurisprudence, presidential issuances, rules and regulations, International treatises and agreements, as well as other materials that deal with the familial Relationships. -the issuances and publicationsof the National Commission on the Role of the Filipino Women (NCRFW) are likewise included Lex Libris Student Edition (LLSE) -series of CD ROM publications specially offered to students -each volume is comprised of materials pertaining to subjects taken in each year of law school -gathered from various sources and were submitted to notable professors of law for comment and review Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas -this latest release is the first and only compilation of its kind that includes Index of Economic Laws and Banking Regulations, BSP Manuals of Regulations for Banks and Financial Intermediaries and BSP Memorandum Circulars, Orders, Letters, Notices and other regulations. The National Administrative Register (1990-2000) -a compilation of Rules and Regulations from different administrative agencies and bureaus filed with The Office of the National Administrative Register Proceedings of the 1986 Constitutional Commission -contains the Records and Journals of the 1986 Constitutional Comission with related issuances Impeachment Proceedings against Pres. Joseph E. Estrada -the transcript of the historic impeachment proceedings against former president Joseph E. Estrada -with an interactive presentation of the articles of impeachment and witnesses testimonies Lex Libris Bulletins -available on an annual subscription basis -delivery is done every trimester until all the years materials are issued 6. Westlaw: Organization of Materials Westlaw is one of the primary online legal research services for lawyers and legal professionals in the United States and is a part of West, which is a part of Thomson Reuters. In addition, it provides proprietary database services. Information resources on Westlaw include more than 40,000 databases of case law, state and federal statutes, administrative codes, newspaper and magazine articles, public records, law journals, law reviews, treatises, legal forms and other information resources. WestlawNext delivers research confidence, efficiency, and productivity with powerful searching and intelligent tools. Dramatically improved search. WestSearch, the world's most advanced legal search engine, leverages West's editorial analysis, Key Number taxonomy, and state-of-the-

art search technologies so you can be confident you didn't miss anything. You see the most relevant documents ranked on top of your list. Organize more efficiently. Browse faster with case summaries. Drag-and-drop documents and snippets into project folders so when your research is complete it's already organized. Track your research with visual indicators. Add notes; search 12 months of research history, and more. Easier to use. An inviting dashboard is the first sign of legal research that's more like the way you thinkand work. Start with a simple search box in the clean, intuitive interface, and proceed directly to complete answers. 7) Lexis : Organization of Materials Provides a directory of Sources (similar to Westlaws) Sources screen : may choose to use one for the last 20 sources previously used Find a Source : browsing through the hierarchy Hierarchy : broad categories can be narrowed by clicking on subcategories Blue I (information) button: search tips, scope info specific to each source 8) Selecting Databases or Sources Select the smallest database containing the type of documents you are looking for Guide: Run a search on one of the combined secondary source that combines journals treaties rather than searching on separate databases Researching on a problem controlled by law of a particular jurisdiction, search in a database that contains only materials from that jurisdiction Both systems provide databases for specialized areas of law, these can improve search efficiency, should be used in caution to prevent overlooking relevant materials because they do not appear in the selected database Statutory research either using annotated or unannotated versions of the code. Annotated is better since the terms actually used in the statute may not be those generally used when discussing a topic. But sometimes, annotations may be so broad in topic that searching via annotations create larger retrieval of irrelevant items Both Lexis and Westlaw provide numerous databases or sources containing cases from various combinations of courts 9. Composing Lex Libris, Lexis, and Westlaw Searches Two basic approaches: 1. Terms and Connectors searching - combines search terms that describe your issue into a query using Boolean logic

2. Natural language searching - allows you to enter your query as an ordinary sentence or phrase - more appropriate if you are looking for sample of relevant cases as part of more general preliminary research STEPS: 1. Define your issues - determine issues raised by the problem 2. Select search terms - list key terms with alternative terms 3. Search for phrases using terms and connectors - Westlaw: use quotation marks - Lexis: type the phrase last clear chance 4. Relate terms logically - use logical connectors - or, and, - /p terms within the same paragraph - /s terms within the same sentence - /n terms appearing n words from the other 5. Order the connectors properly - 1st = or - 2nd= and - last = and not, but not 6. Evaluate your search - simpler searches are better 7. Field Searching - to narrow down search Lexis Name Court Counsel Number Cites Written by Syllabus Opinion by Opinion Westlaw Title Court Attorney Opinion Citation Synopsis Judge Opinion Subject Parties to the case Court that decided Attorneys representing Docket no. Citation Judge who wrote any opinion Summary of opinion Judge who wrote majority opinion Opinion of court

10. Quick Tips for Composing Online Searches 1. Terms and connectors searching -select terms and connectors searching when you are familiar with the topic and its language/jargon and/or when you want a comprehensice search (e.g. case research) 2. Define Issues -determine the legal issues raised by your problem 3. Select search terms -identify key terms along with alternative forms, synonyms, antonyms and related concepts -make sure all terms are spelled correctly -truncate terms appropriately with the ! or * cymbol to pick up variations in endings *on Westlaw, place a phrase in quotes *on Lexis, simply type the phrase 4. Relate terms logically and order connectors properly -use the logical connectors to arrange your terms into ideas and concepts -most commonly used connectors are essentially the same on Lexis and Westlaw and include In order of processing: or; /n; /s; /p; and; and not/but not. *if in doubt about order of processing, use parentheses to vary the prescribed order of Processing to make sure your search retrieves the documents you intend

*terms enclosed in parentheses are searched first 5. Select dource (Lexis) or database (Westlaw) -determine the controlling jurisdiction -most efficient to begin searching in the smallest database containing mandatory authorities 6. Limit your search to a field segment and use date restrictions when appropriate -search efficiency may be greatly improved by limiting your searches to particular segments or fields of the documents in the source/database you are searching -or by specifying a date or time period for your search result 7. Run your search and evaluate your results -browse the documents you have retrieved by looking for highlighted search terms in the text of the documents. -terms are automatically highlighted on Westlaw and one may move easily 8. Use locate(Westlaw) or focus (Lexis) to look for specified terms within your search result -can include terms that were not part of the query you entered 9. Natural language searching -select natural language searching whern you are beginning a research project and are not yet familiar With the vocabulary, or when you need only a sampling of relevant documents -can be useful in locating secondary source materials that provide background on the subject of your research 10. Define your issues -analyze your facts -run a natural language search first if unsure what search terms would create a successful terms and connectors search 11. Decide how to express your search -express your natural language search as a question or simply as a string of words related to your legal concepts -natural language automatically searches alternative forms of words you have included as part of your search -in natural language searching on both Lexis and Westlaw many but not all phrases will be automatically recognized and searched (you may put phrases in quotes to make sure they are searched as phrases -a thesaurus is available with natural language searching and should be used if you are uncertain about whether to add terms to your search 12. Select your source (Lexis) or database (Westlaw) -you must have already determined the controlling jurisdiction -it is most efficient to begin searching in the smallest database containing mandatory authorities 13. Run your search and evaluate results -search results are displayed differently than results of terms and connectors searches -natural language searching in both Lexis and Westlaw is preset to provide a specified number of documents in the result. -you can change the number of documents retrieved at the initial natural language search screen -results are not displayed in reverse chronological order or with cases from the highest courts first -they are displayed in order of relevance as determined by the search engine 11. Internet Research Internet engines that are devoted to legal information: c)

FindLaw http://www.findlaw.com/ GPO Access http://www.gpoaccess.gov/ Thomas: Legislative Information on the Internet http://thomas.loc.gov/ The Legal Information Institute http://www.law.cornell.edu/ The American Society of International Law Guide to Electronic Resources for International Law http://www.asil.org/resource/home.htm

12. Strategies for Internet Research a) Learn how your favorite search engines operate Numerous internet search engines, which do not use the same syntax for organizing searches. Advised to select several, familiarize yourselves with the syntax. (Google: Title: Revolution, Yahoo: Intitle: Revolution) Use more than one search engine for important projects

b)

No one engine covers more than a fraction of all the web pages There are Meta Search Engines sends request to more than one search engine simultaneously (webcrawler, search, dogpile, info, infospace, kosmix, yippy)

Plan your Searches

Just like Lexis/ Westlaw. Define issues, analyze facts, decide how to express search, select most relevant resources, run search and evaluate results

d)

Evaluate reliability

Consider objectivity, expediency, timeliness, accuracy, authenticity, and scope Choose originator of the document (government agency, Intl orgs, or similar sources) Rely on documents ONLY where it is possible to verify: Date ; authorship; other indicators of authenticity.

References: Ng, Po, Legal Research and Bibliography CDASIA.COM http://www.cdasiastore.com/catalog/the-lexlibris-series LEXISNEXIS.COM

Lex Libris Vol.3 - Jurisprudence