Using Google's Verbatim Search to Customize and Refine Your Search Queries

Last week’s Tech Tip presented strategies for structuring more effective Google search queries. This week, we revisit Google to focus on another useful feature, a small but powerful tool for clarifying and refining your searches.

The feature, known as Verbatim Search, allows you to more precisely customize your search queries and override Google’s “Did you mean” feature. Here’s how it works: Suppose you’re conducting research on the trademark for a cleverly-named product line, a variety of tea-related beverages with names such as HonesTea, RealiTea, IngenuiTea. When you search for HonestTea, for example, Google asks, “Did you mean Honest Tea?” and restructures your search query as two separate words. This assumption can cause frustration, but, more importantly, it yields inaccurate search results.

Fortunately, this problem is easily corrected. By using the Verbatim Search feature, you can override Google’s default settings. Simply go to the Google search page. Under the Google search box, click on Search Tools. Then, click on All Results to expand the drop-down menu, revealing the Verbatim Search feature. Select this option. Google will repeat the search, giving you a more precise set of search results that accurately capture the intended meaning of your search terms.

As another example (pictured above), try searching the terms parole evidence in the default Google search box. Automatically, Google reinterprets your terms as parol evidence. By selecting Verbatim Search, your search terms will be rendered exactly as they appear in the search box, giving you the results for parole evidence that you actually seek. With Verbatim Search, you have the power to control your search. You may even feel that you’re outsmarting Google!    

Power hacks, Shortcuts, and Well-Kept Secrets for Maximizing the Power of Your Search Engine

For today’s tech tip, the Harris County Law Library will share a number of power hacks, shortcuts, and well-kept secrets that will change your whole approach to searching. These underutilized features will increase the accuracy of your search results and allow you to get the most out of your Internet browsing experience.

Google is the most popular search engine, with an estimated 1,600,000,000 unique visitors per month. That’s roughly four times the number of visitors to the second most popular search engine, Microsoft’s Bing. Whichever site you prefer, it’s helpful to know the tips, tricks, and hidden features that make both engines so robust.

In both Google and Bing, there are a number of very useful operators that help to narrow your search results and give you the documents and/or websites you seek.

To locate nothing but PDFs, append filetype:PDF

Example: legal technology filetype:pdf

To search a particular site, append site:followed by the website URL

Example: legal technology site:harriscountylawlibrary.org

To search only the websites of academic institutions, append inurl:edu

Example: legal technology inurl:edu

To search only State of Texas government information websites, append inurl:state.tx.us

Example: legal technology inurl:state.tx.us

These are a few of the more popular search engine secrets that will help you in your research. For additional tips and tricks, visit the reference desk and ask for Google For Lawyers: Essential Search Tips and Productivity Tools. For a complete list of the advanced query operators used in Bing, visit the Advanced Operator Reference on MSN.microsoft.com.

Accessing Government Information Fifty Years After the Passage of FOIA

Throughout the month of July, the Harris County Law Library is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Freedom of Information Act or FOIA, the landmark bill that expanded access to public records and paved the way for greater accountability in government affairs. On June 30th, President Obama signed the FOIA Improvement Act, which, among other revisions, stipulates the creation of a single online portal for all FOIA requests. This use of technology to improve government transparency will simplify and expedite the request submission process.

Another way that technology is being used to improve open access to government information is via the e-CFR website. The e-CFR is a daily updated version of the Code of Federal Regulations. It is an unofficial editorial compilation of CFR material and Federal Register amendments. The User Information Page advises those who access the site to verify the accuracy of the content using the CFR, Federal Register, and the List of CFR Sections Affected (LSA).

The e-CFR is just one example of how the government provides information to the public. Another useful resource is the Federal Digital System or FDsys.gov where Congressional Documents, Hearings, Records, and Reports, as well as the United States Code, are available. Federal Court Opinions from select Courts can also be found here, along with a wealth of additional government documents from the Federal Budget to the United States Statutes at Large. The full collection of available records and can be viewed here. 

The Library of Congress is also a rich resource for government documents, including the Federal Register, dating back to 1936. Published every business day, the Federal Register contains executive orders and proclamations, along with public notices and proposed rules issued by federal agencies.

When FOIA was signed in 1966, accessing public information was quite a different process. FOIA has seen many changes in the last 50 years, with substantial revisions due to the advance of technology. Thanks to online publishing and interactivity, as well as the development of authentication technology, the availability of accurate, up-to-date government documents is much greater, allowing the public to be better informed.  

Exploring Lexis Advance: Texas Pattern Jury Charges

The Harris County Law Library subscribes to Lexis Advance, providing on-site access to a wealth of legal information resources, including cases, statutes, regulations, and other primary source materials. Several secondary sources are also available including treatises, legal encyclopedias, form books, commentaries, legal reference sources, and, most notably, Texas Pattern Jury Instructions for civil and criminal cases.

To access the jury charges, simply log on to Lexis Advance using our computers. Select State materials, and specify Texas as your state of interest. On the page that follows, you will see an inventory of Texas legal materials. Scroll down past the primary sources and legal treatises to locate the link for Jury Instructions. Select Civil or Criminal to view the titles available for each practice area. 

Civil

• Business, Consumer, Insurance, & Employment, current through 2014
• Family & Probate, current through 2016
• General Negligence, Intentional Personal Torts, & Workers' Compensation, current through 2014
• Malpractice, Premises, & Products, current through 2014

Criminal

• Defenses, current through 2015
• Intoxication & Controlled Substances, current through 2013
• Crimes Against Persons, current through 2011
• Property Crimes, current through 2012
• General, Evidentiary, & Ancillary Instructions, current through 2015
• Preparatory Crimes, current through 2014

All of this content is compiled by the State Bar Committee on Pattern Jury Charges, and all is current through the most recent year of publication for each title. Along with the jury instructions are several value-added features: a discussion of the legal issues to consider in drafting jury charges, a complete general charge, and special instructions for the topics listed above. Also included is an outline that "explicitly states the relevant statutes and legal definitions and then applies the law to the facts in common sense language."

If you prefer to use these titles in print, the library does own hard copies which can be requested at the reference desk for use in the library. Please stop by for a visit, and be sure to explore all that Lexis Advance has to offer.

Tech Tip: Limiting Desktop Notifications in Microsoft Outlook

One of the keys to working more efficiently is to create a personal action plan. Set an agenda, and stick to it. And don’t let email rule your day. Microsoft Outlook is a powerful application and an indispensable tool for communicating with clients and colleagues throughout the workday, but some of its default settings may be interfering with your ability to perform at your best.

The blue “toaster” alerts that pop up in the lower corner of your screen and sometimes chime to demand your immediate attention are just one example. Notifications are helpful, but they can also break your focus, interrupting your concentration, and disturbing your workflow. Responding to the needs of others before addressing your own priorities allows external influences to determine your agenda. This deviation from your personal action plan is usually counterproductive. Of course you want to be available for your clients and to address pressing issues as they arise, but giving your attention to matters that don’t warrant an immediate response can add time and money to your balance sheet, making you less productive and your services less cost-effective.

Fortunately, the same system which tries to make your life easier by notifying you of every incoming message you receive can be customized to limit your alerts. Slaw, Canada’s online legal magazine, provides detailed instructions for turning off your email alerts or limiting the volume of incoming messages. You receive notifications for only the most important or immediately actionable items, reducing the intrusive and distracting demands on your time and giving you peace of mind.