translate
Blog

Understanding Legal Search Algorithms

By Michelle Buhalo •  December 17, 2019
  •  

Ever wonder why the same search across different legal databases can produce results with different relevancy rankings? It's because of the unique algorithms each database uses. In order for researchers to better understand how the databases cultivate their specific algorithms, representatives from Bloomberg Law, Fastcase, Lexis Advance, and Westlaw contributed to "Inside the Black Box of Search Algorithms" in the November/December 2019 issue of the AALL Spectrum, a publication of the American Association of Law Libraries. The article also summarizes some "common ingredients in how search relevance is calculated", including TF-IDF (term frequency / inverse document frequency), Boolean search operators, proximity factors, and "rank and file".

This article is available to most Jenkins members on the HeinOnline database. HeinOnline is also available in the library.

More from the blog

American Law Institute (ALI)
August 20, 2025

Using the Parallel Tables to the Restatements

When the American Law Institute (ALI) first began the Restatements , it grouped the different subjects into "series". The first series of the Restatements, consisting of nine subjects, began in 1923 and was completed in 1944. To prevent the work from becoming obsolete, ALI began working on the...
LLMC Digital
June 12, 2025

Using LLMC's New Platform

Need help navigating the new LLMC platform? This post has you covered! First, you need to create an account in LLMC. This is especially important if you intend to download, print, or email any content to yourself. Follow the steps below to set up your account. Once your account is created, take a...
HeinOnline
April 10, 2025

Proceedings and Debate from the U.S. Congress

The Congressional Record consolidates the proceedings and debates from the U.S. Congress into Daily Editions, which are later collected and published in annual volumes known as the permanent or Bound Editions. New issues typically become available before 10:00 am on a daily basis. "At the end of...