Search tips for Checkpoint Classic
Find tips to help make your searches more effective.
Language is legal or specialized
As you choose search keywords, consider who wrote the material that you seek. Most libraries that have official source material use legal language that makes keyword searches a challenge.
Keywords are too specific
Is your topic part of a broader issue. Don't focus on specifics. Consider what else might relate to your issue.
Keywords are too generic
Avoid commonly used words such as tax or deduction. They occur so frequently that they won't get you any closer to the results you seek.
Avoid prepositions (such as
to
and on
) and articles (such as a
and the
) unless they are part of a phrase in quotation marks because they occur so frequently that Checkpoint Classic
can't accept them as keywords. For example, the search "ordinary and necessary expenses"
will retrieve documents that contain ordinary and necessary expenses, ordinary or necessary expenses, and so forth.Hyphens and hyphenated compound words
Hyphens are searchable. If you type e-mail, documents that contain at least one occurrence of e-mail with hyphens, all occurrences of e-mail, and all occurrences of e mail will be retrieved.
If you use hyphens when you search for compound word search terms, Checkpoint Classic will give you the broadest search results possible.
Acronyms
Tax and financial documents are filled with acronyms for institutions, government agencies, and tax concepts. For searches that include commonly used acronyms such as GAAP,
Checkpoint Classic
will retrieve results for both the expanded name and its acronym. Codes or regulations with parentheses
Enter the code section or regulation citation within quotation marks in the Keywords field, for example,
"381(c)(4)"
. You can also use Citation Search
to find the Code section, Statute, or Regulations Number.important
When you make a full text search in the Keywords field, remember to include quotation marks around the citation if it uses parentheses, for example, "381(c)(4)", but don't use quotation marks when you use
Citation Search
.