Help Options for Searching in SADO & MPLP Database - Michigan State Appellate Defender Office

Help Options for Searching in SADO and MPLP Database

The material in the SADO and MPLP Database is retrieved through the Folio Webserver, a program which uses flexible search commands. Every word is "indexed" by the program, which allows fast searching of every "folio" or block of material. The database is divided into segments called folios. Each folio (in our database) consists of a paragraph of text. In addition to folios, the database utilizes "levels" which consist of one full citation, one opinion summary, one full text brief, or one brief bank card or master card. This is important to note when searching our database. All queries are predefined to search "levels" to assist you in searching.

To Search:
Enter your search terms following the colon (:) and then click on the the "Search" button. Word searches are constructed by using your own key works or index terms used by the Criminal Defense Resource Center. Boolean commands allow you to connect words, allowing greater specificity in searching. Field searching is available in some databases.

Search Operators and Other Functions

Searches may be for a single word, multiple words, phrases, wildcarded words, or words in proximity to other words. The use of search operators, level, and field names may be combined within a query. After a search is typed and submitted, the system searches its thesaurus for the terms used.

Search queries are formed by grouping words together. Connectors are used to perform certain functions in the search software. Do not type a word unless you want to search for that word. Search connectors must be used to receive satisfactory search results. The Folio Webserver indexes every word and will literally search for every character in the query expect for spaces and these symbols: /,^ and @.

And

The "and" operator is used to find two or more words that occur in the same record or "level" (if your search originates from the "database page.") The "and" operator performs a set intersection on records which contain one word and records which contain another word. The result is a set of records which contain both words. Word one and word two are joined in the query by the "and," the ampersand symbol (&), or a blank space.
Example: search and seizure or search & seizure

The vertical pipe | character is the "or" operator. The "or" operator is similar in function to the "and" operator. Both help you find multiple words; however, the "or" operator does not require both words to be in the same record to register a hit. The "or" operator performs a set union on the records which contain one word and the records which contain another word. Word one and word two are joined in the query by the word "or," or the vertical pipe "|". Note: To narrow a search, use "and." To broaden a search, use "or."
Example: guns or knives or guns | knives

Not

The caret (^) is the "not" operator. The "not" operator is used when you want to exclude a word from a search. The "not" operator can be used with several words or with a single word.
Example: murder NOT suicide or murder ^suicide

XOR

The "exclusive or" operator is the tilde (~) or "xor." The "exclusive or" operator requires that either word but not both words be in the record in order to generate a hit. Records will not be retrieved if both words are in the record.
Example: evidence and blood XOR DNA or evidence and blood ~DNA

" " Phrase

Use quotation marks (" ") around your terms to search for phrases. For example, the query "felony firearms" will search for those terms in order and found in any record. The program treats the phrase as one long word and will generally take more time to return results.
Example: "driving under the influence"

* or ? Wildcards

The asterisk (*) wildcard is used to replace 0 or more characters in a search word, i.e., sentenc*. The question mark (?) wildcard is used to replace any single character in a search word, i.e., mari?uana.
Example: sentenc*
Example: mari?uana

@# (# = any number from 1-250) Unordered Proximity

Use the "unordered proximity" operator (@#) after a phrase to search for words in any order but within a specified number of words of each other. The search "standard of review"@10 will retrieve hits with the terms standard, of and review, in any order, but within 10 words of each other.
Example: "search seizure informant's tip"@10