Jinfo: Sophisticated News Search from Nexis

Sophisticated News Search from Nexis
Jinfo Blog

27th November 2013

Abstract

The recently-introduced News Search option from Nexis® (known as Nexis.com in the US) allows even a novice searcher to create a sophisticated search whilst still maintaining the flexibility to satisfy a power user, finds researcher Anne Lonergan. Nexis is a comprehensive global business information research tool, providing access to thousands of sources via one interface, including business and financial news; company, biographical and industry intelligence; trade journal and market research materials; legal and regulatory records; and social media content.

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I started work in the information industry in the mid 1990s. Back then the electronic tools I used were mostly CD-ROM based and limited for use by the research team. If I recall correctly, we did have one web-based service but only one or two user IDs. There was no such thing as Google or Wikipedia and desktop access for all employees to a news aggregation tool was still a few years off.

Obviously the environment has changed but it’s not just information professionals who must strive to prove their value in the new information world. Providers of paid-for content, such as LexisNexis, must also compete against the likes of Wikipedia, Google, Twitter and the myriad of other free web-based sources.

A Google-Like Experience

I doubt any information professionals need to be convinced of the benefits of subscribing to a news provider that can offer trusted, reliable content but casual users are a different matter. As well as selling the value of their content, information providers have long recognised the need to offer casual users a “Google-like” experience – the ability to search content without needing Boolean logic and yet still bring back accurate, targeted results.

Powerful News Search

Introduced last year to the Nexis® product, News Search provides a search form that allows even a novice searcher to create a sophisticated search whilst still maintaining the flexibility to satisfy a power user.

The form is structured in such a way that users can specify, via drop-down menus, where in an article each search term should appear (headline, lead paragraph, indexing etc.). Additional drop-down menus allow the user to link search terms (and, or, same sentence etc.). Another search box allows users to add terms to be excluded from the search and users can easily add topics and sources.

I was very impressed with the search results I was able to achieve using this form and quickly came to favour it over the Power Search option. This search form is a real asset for Nexis.

Full Review

The full FreePint Report: Product Review of Nexis is now available to those with a FreePint Subscription.

Editor's Note: Beyond Aggregation

This article is part of the FreePint Topic Series: Beyond Aggregation, which runs from October to November 2013. Register your interest, and you'll get pre-notification of when registration opens for any webinars in this series, as well as a free copy of the FreePint Report: Buyer's Guide on News Content when we publish in November.

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