Law Journal Library
HeinOnline Specialist
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Main Search Bar Tips
The main search bar is stationary throughout HeinOnline. After entering the Law Journal Library, the Full Text search tab option on the search bar will search the full text and metadata in Law Journal Library index. Click Advanced Search to expand search fields or to perform a more specific or date-limited search. Click Search Help for a quick reference guide of commonly used search syntax.
Note: As a value-added, HeinOnline indexes articles in the Law Journal Library that are exclusive to other collections like the Bar Journals Library, Kluwer Law International Journal Library, and Foreign & International Law Resources Database. These results will be shaded gray.
Using the Main Search Bar
Search for articles pertaining to a topic using the main search bar. For example, enter the phrase “impeachment process” inside quotation marks into the search bar. Results can be refined using the facets on the left side of the page. Available facets include date, section type, topic, location, person, organization, title, edit type, language, country concerning, country published, and state published. Terms matching the search query appear in bold text within the matching text page snippets. Sort search results by relevance, volume date, and more. Find cited-by information and access tools, such as an instant-PDF download, on the right side of each search result. Use the icons next to the sort-by bar to modify your current search, to search within results, to toggle all matching text pages, or to turn OFF infinite scroll.
Using the Advanced Search Option
Click the Advanced Search link located beneath the main search bar to perform a more specific search. Use various metadata fields, such as Text, Article Title, Author/Creator, and more. For example, to search for articles by former Vice President Joseph R. Biden, Jr. that pertain to election financing: In the author/creator field enter Joseph R. Biden Jr. and in the text field enter the words election AND financ* using capital letters for the Boolean operator (AND). The wildcard (*) searches for variations of a word such as finance, financing, etc. Additional options in the Advanced Search tool include searching by article subjects, by publication citation or title, date range selection, and section type selection.
More Like This
The More Like This button uses a program which finds “interesting words” in an article, as determined by an algorithm that analyzes the article’s text, to find similar articles. Review the list of similar articles and adjust the boost factor on interesting words or enter new terms to change the scope of the results.
Keyword Search Builder
The Keyword Search Builder uses the same technology as More Like This and is located in the Advanced Search tool. Enter keywords into one or more boxes and use the boost levels to give more weight to the most important terms in the query.
Venn Diagram Search
Located within the Advanced Search tool is the Venn Diagram Search feature. Use the tool to visualize the results yield of various keywords and better refine a search. After selecting the tool, users will be redirected to a page with a search bar, instructions for its use, and a few example searches. With the Venn Diagram feature, users can simply search for multiple terms separated with the Boolean operator "AND."
For example, perform a search using the terms "child," "labor," and "rights." Enter each term into the search bar, separating each with the word "AND." Click the Search button to bring up a Venn Diagram illustrating the various combinations of those terms and their respective results yield within the Law Journal Library. The original search combining all three terms (child AND labor AND rights) will appear by default, visually represented by the red intersection of all three circles in the diagram.
Users can also view the results of other combinations. Select the "Clear" button above the diagram to be able to hover over the various options. Users will see that all possible search term combinations are highlighted as the cursor hovers over them. Click one of these highlighted circles or intersections to bring up the results of certain combinations.
For example, to view only the results of the terms "child" and "labor," select "Clear" and then hover over the intersection between the two terms to see it highlighted in red. Select the red intersection to bring up the results of the search "child AND labor" in the Law Journal Library.
