The new version of Lexis Nexis Academic has three main kinds of search forms: Easy Search form, Power Search form, and content-specific search forms (News, Legal, Business, and People).
Here are some hints to help you decide which form you should choose to start your search:
• Use the Easy Search form if you just need a quick answer to a simple query or you are not familiar with advanced searching methods or you are not sure which sources to use. Enter any terms or phrases, with or without connectors, and Easy Search will determine the best searching method (terms and connectors or natural language) based on what you entered.
• Use the Power Search form when you need broad flexibility not available on other search forms. You may browse and select specific sources which might not be available on other forms, search sections within a document, find terms and companies within the LexisNexis® SmartIndexing Technology™ feature (Index Terms), choose between natural language and terms and connectors searching, etc. It is also helpful when you have a general query, are searching in an unfamiliar area, or are searching across multiple content types.
• Use content-specific search forms (News, Legal, Business, and People) if you have a specific topic or category of searching in mind, such as Law Reviews. These forms don’t allow you to select a specific source, except those already listed on the “Select Sources” dropdown menu.
The following provides answers to some questions you may encounter when using Lexis Nexis Academic:
How would I search an article about, say, Iraq pullout, in Times Union (or other specific source)?
1. Use Power Search form in the General tab
2. Enter “Iraq pullout” in the search box
3. To select a specific source, which is Times Union, click on “Find More Sources …,” type “Times Union” in the “Find a source” box, and then check the source. Alternatively, you can select sources in the Browse Sources tab. The Browse Sources tab lists broad categories of sources which you can “click through” to find sources related to your search. You can also restrict the display by publication or content type.
How can I limit my legal search to certain courts?
For example, you want to find New York State Cases about abortion.
1. Use Power Search form in the General tab;
2. Enter “Abortion” in the search box;
3. To limit your results to New York State Cases only, click on “Find More Sources…”
4. On the “Browse Sources” page, select the following choices on each step:
Step 1: By “Publication”
Step 2: Filter by “United States” and “New York”
Step 3: Click on “Cases” folder and then check “NY State Cases, Combined”
5. Click on the “OK – Continue” button to go back to the Power Search form to continue the search.
In the News tab, can I select multiple sources in the “select sources” box?
Not really. If you want to select multiple SPECIFIC sources, you can’t do it in the News tab. Instead, please use Power Search form in the General tab, and then do the following steps:
1. Enter “Iraq pullout” in the search box
2. This time, you would like to search the topic in two newspapers, including Times Union and New York Times. To do this, click on “Find More Sources …,” enter “Times Union” in the “Find a source” box, and then check “Times Union” on the source list.
3. To select the next source, type the newspaper name, which is “New York Times,” in the keyword search box in the top left corner of the same page. You can continue to add more sources in this way. The number of sources you select appears at the top of the page. Alternatively, you can select sources in the Browse Sources tab. The Browse Sources tab lists broad categories of sources which you can “click through” to find sources related to your search. You can also restrict the display by publication or content type.