Keyword
Any specified word, or combination of words, used in a search, with the intent of locating and identifying potential evidence.
Keyword Search Strategy – Computers are literal so there are techniques to find word derivations and misspellings that may be important to the examination. Keep in mind, however, that these strategies will increase the amount of evidence to be reviewed by the examiner.
Boolean - Finds a group of words or phrases linked by and, or, and not, w/# (within a range) and not w/#.
Examples:
tart apple pie – the entire phrase must be present
apple pie and pear tart – both phrases must be present
apple pie or pear tart – either phrase must be present
apple pie and not pear tart - only apple pie must be present
apple w/5 pear – apple must occur within 5 words of pear
apple not w/27 pear - apple must not occur within 27 words of pear
subject contains apple pie – finds apple pie in a subject field
Use ( ) when a search includes two or more connectors: apple and pear or orange juice could mean (apple and pear) or orange, or it could mean apple and (pear or orange)
Exact phrase - Finds a single phrase (quotation marks are optional)
Fuzzy searching - Finds words even if they are misspelled. A search for alphabet with a fuzziness of 1 would also find alphaqet. With a fuzziness of 3, the same search would find both alphaqet and alpkaqet
Phonic searching - Finds words that sound alike, like Smythe in a search for Smith
Synonym expansion - Finds word synonyms using a comprehensive English language thesaurus
Stemming - Finds grammatical variations on endings, like applies, applied, applying in a search for apply