Legal Research

A View from the Reference Desk

By Amy Levine

Using “More Like This” or “More Like Selected Text” on LexisNexis

The other day, I was helping a student look for articles on the fiduciary duty of mortgage brokers to their borrowers. We signed on to LexisNexis, narrowed our file down and typed in some keywords for our search. After reviewing the results page the student exclaimed “Number 6 is perfect! That is exactly what I am looking for. Now if I can only find another few articles like this one.” Not one to dampen a student’s enthusiasm, I showed him the “More Like This”.

After clicking on an article’s link you will find the link to “More Like This” at the top of the page. The resulting page is what you see below (click on it to view a larger image). Lexis identifies the core terms in the article and displays them for the user to select or deselect. There is the option to add more terms, phrases, and to limit the date. Then click on “Search” and peruse your results.

You can also highlight text in the body of your article and then choose the “More Like Selected Text” link. Lexis will then place your highlighted text in a search box as shown below. Again, you can further edit your search from this point.

The good news is these tools are available when you are searching for cases and statutes too. Give it a try.

Full post as published by Ross-Blakley Law Library Blog on November 26, 2008 (boomark / email).