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Some databases (including AustLII) allow you to do a Boolean search. When connectors are used, the words they separate are not treated as a phrase but as individual related terms, each of which is searched for. This can be useful in overcoming the problem of adjacency.
Let us return to an earlier exampe. Look at the sample database opposite. Suppose you want to find the case Smith v Jenkins. If you use 'jenkins and smith' as your search term in a Boolean search, the search will retrieve documents that contain both the word 'Smith' and the word 'Jenkins' at least once. It will not matter which of the key words appears first in the document. And it will not matter if there are many other words in between.
In a database containing the names of the cases listed opposite, your search would retrieve the case of Smith v Jenkins even though the names appear in a different order in that document.
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