ADVANCED SEARCH TECHNIQUES
The following advanced search techniques may be used in the Energy Regulatory Commission Legal Information Archive (http://lia.erc.gov.ph).
I. Exact Phrase Search
To search for an exact phrase, double quotes (" ") must be used to enclose a group of words.
"certificate of compliance"
Without the double quotes, the system will look for the words either jointly or separately in a document as the space between the words will be recognized by the system as the operator AND.
II. Wildcard Search
The asterisk (*) can be used as a substitute for a word or group of words in a phrase, and locate variations of the phrase/s. It may also be used as a word extender.
"electric * rate" — will look for "electric power rates" or "electric generation rates"
"electric* rate*" — will look for "electrical rates" or "electric rate" or "electricity rates"
The wildcard is useful if the researcher is unsure of how a phrase or a word was written.
III. Boolean Search
The boolean search method employs operators to expand or narrow down a search. The operators are as follows:
AND — Using "AND" between words will look for the words appearing together in a document. A space between words also operates as "AND".
Example: electricity AND power
OR — Using "OR" between words will look for instances where either or both words appear in a document. Symbol: |
Example: electricity OR power
electricity | power
NOT — Using "NOT" between words will look for instances where the word after the operator "NOT" does not appear in the same document as the first word. Symbol: – or !
Example: electricity NOT power
electricity – power
Important Note: When using the symbol "–" as part of a search parameter, as in an issuance number, enclose the search parameter in double quotes, or do not leave spaces between characters (e.g., "2011-001" or ERC Case No. 2011-001). Otherwise, the symbol will be read by the system as the NOT operator.
IV. Proximity Search
Proximity searching allows the user to find words appearing within a certain number of words between them. The principle applied is the closer the words are to each other, the greater the probability they are related. Symbol: ~
"electric power rate"~10 - Will look for the words "electric", "power", and "rate" within ten (10) words of each other.
Wildcards may be used with proximity searching.
"electric* power rate*"~10 – Will look for instances of the words “electric”, “electricity”, “electrical”, “power”, “rate”, “rates” and “rated” within 10 words of each other.