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How do I search HeinOnline Academic?
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Accessing HeinOnline
You can access HeinOnline Academic directly or through the law section of the Database List. If you're off-campus, you will be prompted to login with your MyPVCC username and password. When searching this database, keep in mind this is not for background information. If you need background information, use a different database, such as Gale eBooks.
Types of searches
HeinOnline offers five different types of searches, all available from the main search box: term("just search for"), title, author, citation, and catalog.
When you first access HeinOnline, you will see the main search box.
As you type your terms into the box, HeinOnline will display the five types of searches in a drop-down menu:
Click on the type of search you want to conduct. In the example above, we want to conduct a keyword search, and for this, we click on "Just search for." The five types of searches are described below.
HeinOnline' five search types
- Just search for
- Searches by keyword. For best results, use specific/targeted terms, Boolean operators, and phrase searching. For best results,
- Examples:
- "miranda rights"
- probate AND "estate administration"
- Examples:
- Searches by keyword. For best results, use specific/targeted terms, Boolean operators, and phrase searching. For best results,
- Title
- Searches for titles across HeinOnline documents.
- Example: World Peace Through International Legal Consensus
- Searches for titles across HeinOnline documents.
- Author
- Searches for a specific author.
- Example: Earl Warren
- Searches for a specific author.
- Citation
- Retrieves cases or documents by citation. The citations need to be in Bluebook style (the style used in law).
- Examples
- Case: 370 U.S. 660 retrieves Robinson v. California (1962)
- Document: 4 Harv. L. Rev. 193 retrieves "The Right to Privacy," an article by Samuel D. Warren and Louis D. Brandeis.
- Examples
- Retrieves cases or documents by citation. The citations need to be in Bluebook style (the style used in law).
- Catalog
- Use to search for specific resources, for example: Harvard Law Review
HeinOnline's list of connectors
| Operator | Example | Description |
|---|---|---|
| "" | "Miranda rights" | Putting words between quotation marks will search for the specific phrase |
| AND | consumer AND safety | Searches for all the terms connected by AND |
| OR | attorney OR lawyer | Finds results that contain either word, or both. Results that contain both are ranked higher. |
| NOT | search NOT seizure | Excludes results that contain the term listed after NOT |
| ~n | search ~4 seizure | Finds terms that are n words from each other |
| ? | wom?n | Finds terms with a single letter difference, such as "woman" and "women" |
| * | object* | Finds terms that differ by more than one letter, such as object, objection, objected, objects, etc. |
| /s | jury /s discrimination | Finds terms that are within the same sentence (max. 25 words apart) |
| /p | jury /p discrimination | Finds terms that are within the same paragraph (max. 75 words apart) |
| /seg | jury /seg oath | Finds terms that are within the same segment (max. 100 words apart) | ^n | jury AND oath ^5 | Finds results with both terms, but results where one term (in this example, "oath") is found more frequently will appear higher on the list of results. Note: to make the ^ sign, hold down the ALT key and then press 94 |
Tips!
- If you are searching for background information (for example, you want to know what Miranda rights are and how they work), HeinOnline is not your best choice. Try Gale eBooks instead.
- You will get better results if you use targeted, specific language (for example: "Miranda rights") and use Boolean operators (AND, NOT, OR) in your searches.
- For more information about legal research, see How do I conduct legal research?
Need Help?
- For help finding resources, use the information in the library's playbooks. Librarians can help you understand the playbooks, but they cannot conduct research for you.
- For help with formatting citations, please consult the library's citation styles playbooks. Please note the librarians cannot help you with citation generators or with any citation guide other than the library's.
- For help with composition issues (such as spelling, grammar, flow, etc.), please visit the Writing Center.
- If you have questions, please email the librarians at reference@pvcc.edu, visit the library and speak with a librarian, or connect via chat. If your section has an embedded librarian, contact that specific librarian.