YEARS OF EUROPEAN ONLINE ANNÉES DE EN LIGNE ...

MEETING OF THE COUNCIL WORKING PARTY
ON LEGAL DATA PROCESSING
1.2.1. SEARCHING FOR A SET OF DOCUMENTS:
COMBINING SINGLE DOCUMENT SEARCHES
As a irst step in our example, three individual searches by CELEX number
(DN) are performed to retrieve results for the overall number of codiication
projects available in the database concerning:
• regulations (DN=5????EC*),
• directives (DN=5????GC*) and
• decisions (DN=5????fC*).
the three result lists can be combined by Boolean
operators (AND, NOt, OR) in the ‘Search history’ section
within the simple search.
At the time of writing this article, these queries result
in only one hit each. Consequently the combining of the
results with a Boolean ‘OR’ produces a list of three documents.
the exploitation of this particular feature of the ‘Search history’ extends
the simple search’s capacity and allows for the easy combination of multiple
simple queries to simulate and replace, to a certain extent, comparably complex
searches.
Achieving the same results might sometimes turn out much more dificult,
when trying to produce them through some repeated application of the ‘Reine’
option coming with every result list. however, both of these tracks simulating
more complex searches within the simple search environment are limited
to the ields in the EUR-Lex database that can be addressed via the simple
search screens.
But EUR-Lex has more to offer than the simple search, and goes, concerning
the functions available, far beyond the simple search for documents.
to learn more about that, and if it comes to exploiting further ields of the
database, one needs to turn to the advanced search: almost all ields available in
EUR-Lex are available for selection from a list in the advanced search screen.
1.2.2. SEARCHING FOR A SET OF DOCUMENTS:
COMBINING ANY FIELDS
the second practical example was chosen to illustrate the easy combination
of search criteria, and is derived from a question that was recently addressed
to the EUR-Lex unit of the Publications Ofice:
for how many documents adopted one year before, respectively after, the
2004 enlargement, did the Council need to act unanimously?
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