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Westlaw Campus Research

Video Tutorial

General Search Tips

NU users have access to all subscribed content within Westlaw Campus Research. Any document selected that falls outside our subscription will be marked Out of Plan.

In Westlaw, you can conduct searches in natural language or by using Boolean terms and connectors. 

Boolean Operators and Connectors

  • & -  symbol for AND operator. Connects keywords together. 
    • Example: criminal & procedure
  • /s - specifies that the terms appear in the same sentence.
    • criminal /s procedure
  • +s - specifies that the first term must precede the second term within the same sentence.
    • criminal +s procedure
  • /p - specifies that the terms appear in the same paragraph. 
    • criminal /p procedure
  • +p - specifies that the first term must precede the second term within the same paragraph.
    • criminal +p procedure
  • /n  - specifies that search terms need to appear within a specified number of terms of each other.
    • breach /5 contract
  • +n - specifies that the first term must precede the second term by no more than the specified number of terms.
    • Ruth +3 Ginsberg
  • ! - symbol for root expander that searches for multiple endings.
    • object! retrieves object, objected, objection, and objecting. 
  • * - symbol for searching for words with variable characters.
    • withdr*w retrieves withdraw and withdrew. 
  • % - symbol for BUT NOT; excludes documents that contain the terms typed after this connector.
    • damages % negligence

 

 

Regulations

Regulations are rules promulgated by administrative and regulatory agencies that are created by Congress. These agencies hold semi-judicial hearings to review and discuss proposed regulations. Orders, regulations, and decisions made by these administrative and regulatory agencies have the force of law. 

The Federal Register is the daily gazette for executive administrative rulings. All executive orders and administrative regulations published within the Federal Register are legally binding. The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) is the "codification of the general and permanent rules and regulations published in the Federal Register" (Office of the Federal Register). The CFR is organized by subject and divided into 50 titles. 

Searching by Citation

To find a regulation by citation, type the citation into the search box at the top of the page and click search. 

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Searching by Keyword

To search for regulation by a keyword search from the Westlaw home page, using natural language or Boolean searching:

  1. Type your search phrase into the search box at the top of the page. 
  2. Select the jurisdiction from the drop down menu.
  3. Click Search. This will search all core legal content that can be filtered to Regulations. 
  4. Narrow down as needed using filters on the left panel.

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To search for regulations from the Regulations content page, click on the link for the content page from the Westlaw home page. Follow the steps above to conduct a keyword search. Use the filters on the left panel of the search results to narrow down according to jurisdiction or by searching within the results. 

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It is possible to browse regulations within each jurisdiction. Clicking on the Regulations link on the Westlaw home page directs you to the content page for federal and state regulations and resources.

The Table of Contents service allows you to browse regulations, view a regulation in the context of the regulations surrounding it, and quickly review and retrieve related sections. 

These Table of Contents are searchable and provide additional tools and resources. 

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