There are several ways to search notes.

You can perform simple searches from the main Case Folder by marking the Annotations folder with a check mark, entering a phrase or keyword in the Quick Search Box and clicking the search binoculars.

While viewing a transcript, you can perform a simple search of just the notes by opening any note then entering the search term in the Quick Search Box and clicking on the Note Search Binoculars. This button is only available when a note is open. The search will, however, search all notes.

Summation's Find Note feature allows you to perform more detailed searches, tailoring your results to return only the notes you want so you won't have to wade through scores of irrelavent notes. With the Find Note feature, you can perform searches on the contents of the (Issue, Date, and Author) fields in the note tablet. You can also choose to review your hits in either the Note Tablet or Note Digest format.

You can access the Find Note dialog box through either the 'Search' or 'Notes' menus in both the Case Folder - Main Window and the transcript workspace.
     

Your search is constructed in the text box (near the bottom of the dialog box) called the staging area. Each search term you choose is added to the staging area as you leave the field you entered into. You can use connectors to further hone your search if you have multiple terms. Just select either 'AND' or 'OR' above the text box for the term you would like to link and when you leave that field, the term and its connector will appear in the staging area.

It is important to note that in a standard Find Note search, anything that you manually type into the staging area will be ignored and erased when you click the Display button.

Selecting the 'Custom Search' option affords you even more control over your search. When this is selected, you are able to type directly into the staging are and can therefore search for multiple values for a given field. Just be sure you include your terms in quotation marks and that you repeat the field name for each condition. For example, to search for either Background Check or OSHA in the issues field, you would type the following into the staging area:
Issue Eq "Background Check" Or Issue Eq "OSHA"

Once you have selected (or typed in) your search terms and chosen your preferred formay for viewing your results, click the Display button on the bottom of the dialog box. If you have selected the custon search option, your search is retained after you click display and will be preserved even if you exit and re-enter the Find Note dialog. Click on clear to start your search from scratch.

Next week, we will give you more tips for working with notes by covering how to create and use multiple digests.

If you have an idea for Summation's Tip of the Week, or would like clarification on specific procedures contact us, we welcome your suggestions. Should you require assistance with an issue, contact our Technical Support Staff.