Searches that look for all variations of a word can be helpful, but sometimes you need to search for a word or phrase exactly as spelled.

How you do this differs from database to database. In CanLII, use EXACT( ) around the word you are searching for, e.g. EXACT(AIDS). CanLII usually searches for variants of the word, but using EXACT will force it to search for exactly what you have specified.

Quicklaw and WestlawNext Canada both default to searching for both the singular and plural of a search term, rather than all the variants; this means you won’t get …

A quick checklist for when a user tells you that they cannot access a particular database:

1. User account hasn’t been set up
2. Using the wrong username
3. Using the wrong password
4. Trying to log into the US version, not the Canadian
5. Trying to log into the legacy version, not the new one (or vice versa)
6. Someone else is already logged in using that username and password
7. Access is through IP authentication and the user is trying to log in from a location that the database doesn’t recognize (like the user’s home)
8. No longer have a subscription to the database
9. Still subscribe