The Relevance of Results Generated by Human Indexing and Computer Algorithms: A Study of West's Headnotes and Key Numbers and LexisNexis's Headnotes and Topics

Authors

Susan Nevelow Mart, University of Colorado Law SchoolFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication

Law Library Journal

Year

2010

Citation Information

Susan Nevelow Mart, The Relevance of Results Generated by Human Indexing and Computer Algorithms: A Study of West's Headnotes and Key Numbers and LexisNexis's Headnotes and Topics, 102 Law Libr. J. 221 (2010), available at https://scholar.law.colorado.edu/faculty-articles/242.

Abstract

This article begins the investigation into the different ways results are generated in West's "Custom Digest" and in LexisNexis's "Search by Topic or Headnote" and by KeyCite and Shepard's. The author took ten pairs of matching headnotes from important federal and California cases and reviewed the results sets generated by each classification and citator system for relevance. The differences in the results sets for classification systems and for citator systems raise interesting issues about the efficiency and comprehensiveness of any one system, and the need to adjust research strategies accordingly

Comments

"© Susan Nevelow Mart, 2010."

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