Search Help

General Information

• An * is considered a "wildcard" and can be used in any text search to allow for searching on the word root.
  For instance a search on crim* will return crime, criminal, crimes, etc.

• When searching for an RCW or Citation, a period is allowed. The following are all acceptable searches:
  • 118 Wn.2d 195
  • RCW 7.04.160
  • RCW 9.94A*

• When searching for a date, the / is allowed in Advanced Searches when the date is surrounded by quotes.
  For example "02/01/1999" is an acceptable value when using the Advanced Search option.
  With any of the other search options, the / will be removed from the search string.

• Searches are classified as Simple Searches or Advanced Searches. Searches that use the option "Search as a Phrase", "Search for all words", or "Search for any words" are considered Simple Searches. Searches that use the Advanced Search option, or that are started from the Keyword search page, are considered Advanced Searches.

Simple Searches

• Simple searches should not use Boolean operators such as AND, OR, NOT, &, /, !
• Punctuation should not be used in simple searches, except asterisk (*) and period (.)
• Special Characters such as ~ @ # $ should not be used in simple searches
• Do not use Quotes or Parentheses to indicate phrases or separate words

Search as a phrase

• Enter the phrase and click on the "Search as a Phrase" option in the drop down box.
• Do not use any punctuation (such as quotes) other than the * for wildcard searching or a period.

  Examples:

  • murder weapon
  • First Amendment interests
  • discrim*

Search for All Words

• Enter each word.
• Follow each word with a space, do not use any punctuation other than the wildcard * or a period.
• Click on the "Search for all words" option in the drop down box.
• The search tool will automatically build the search so that it looks for all the words in the document.
• Use Search for All Words when all listed words need to appear in the document.

  Examples:

  • murder weapon - this search will find documents that contain both murder and weapon, regardless of their proximity to each other
    
  • crime murder sentence- this search will find documents that contain all the words crime and murder and sentence, regardless of their proximity to each other
    
  • discrim* action- this search will find documents that contain any word beginning with discrim and that also have the word action, regardless of their proximity to each other
    

Search for Any Words

• Enter each word.
• Follow each word with a space, do not use any punctuation other then the wildcard * or a period.
• Click on the "Search for any words" option in the drop down box.
• The search tool will automatically build the search so that it looks for any the words in the document.
• Use Search for Any Words when any of the listed words can be found in the document.

  Examples:

  • murder weapon - this search will find documents that contain either murder or weapon
    
  • crime murder sentence- this search will find documents that contain either crime or murder or sentence.
    
  • discrim* action- this search will find documents that contain any word beginning with discrim or that have the word action.
    

Advanced Searches

• More complex searches can be built using the "Advanced Search" option in the drop down box.

• The Keyword Search option for Text-Only browsers also allows for an Advanced Search.

• Advanced searches should be built using the following criteria:

• Use AND, OR, NOT, and NEAR freely in searches.
  For best results enclose words and phrase in quotes. For example: "judge" AND "jury"
  "judge" OR "jury"
  "judge" NOT "jury"
  "judge" NEAR "jury"

  "sentencing guidelines" AND "signing judge"
  "sentencing guidelines" OR "signing judge"
  "sentencing guidelines" NOT "signing judge"
  "sentencing guidelines" NEAR "signing judge"
  

• If AND OR NOT should be searched on as part of a phrase, enclose the phrase in quotes.
  For example, a search on "sure and certain relief" will return documents containing the phrase.

• Do Not use Single Quotes ' ', always use Double Quotes " "

Examples of advanced searches:

"industry AND computers OR elec*"
This search will find all documents containing the word "industry" and either the word "computers" or any words beginning with "elec".

"industry" OR "crime" OR "search and seizure"
This search will find all documents containing the word "industry" or the word "crime" or the phrase "search and seizure".

crime* AND murder NEAR weapon OR fraud AND crime
This search will find all documents containing any words beginning with "crime" and that have the word "murder" located near "weapon" or where documents contain the words "fraud" and "crime".

"destruct* of evidence" AND "murder weapon" OR felony AND murder
This search will find all documents containing where a phrase begins with any starting with "destruct" and completing with "of evidence" and that has the phrase "murder weapon" or both the words "felony" and "murder".