The main search box on Nexis Uni™ will run both natural language (think Google) and Boolean ("and," "or" and "not" as connectors) searches. The search box will initially detect what type of search you are trying to run and run the search accordingly without you having to specify either natural language or Boolean.
If you insert terms and connectors or Boolean operators into search, Nexis Uni™ will run the search as a Boolean search. If you do not include any connectors or operators, the search will run as natural language.
The natural language search will attempt to analyze the terms in your search to try to understand the intent of your search rather than running the search as a phrase or with an implied connector. For example, running the search: first amendment—without any connectors or quotes—will take you to the text of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution rather than running your search as “first amendment,” first OR amendment, or first AND amendment. Running a search for obamacare will bring you back documents that reference both Obamacare and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010.
To develop a natural language search, use terms that you might use when describing your research topic to another person. For example, to find articles about efforts in the fast food industry to use recyclable packaging, you might use this search: What efforts has the fast food industry made to use recyclable packages? Or, you can use just the most important terms and phrases, in any order: recycle package fast food.
The Boolean search allows you to create relationships between or among your search terms by using connectors (AND, OR, etc.) and/or other operators (quotes, wildcards, etc.) The main search box will recognize any Boolean connectors that you enter and automatically run your search as a Boolean search rather than Natural Language.
For a complete list of connectors and operators available for Nexis Uni™ Boolean searching, access the Nexis Uni™ Help and search for “Search Connectors Quick Reference Card.”
The main search box will also recognize segment searches. For example, typing HLEAD(Brexit) in the main search box will target your search to the Headline and Lead Paragraph of a news article. Or CITE (531 US 98) will bring you back the case with that citation.