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Searching Tobacco Industry Websites
This guide was developed by the UCSF Tobacco Control Archives and is based upon industry help guides, searching techniques used by librarians, and direct experience searching the sites.
Note: You can search the contents of the industry sites simultaneously on the Legacy Tobacco Documents Library.
General Tips
Note: Some document collections are also available at Tobacco Documents Online.
Searching the tobacco documents is likely to be a unique experience for you, even if you are an experienced library user, scholar or researcher. The documents are indexed by many fields, such as author, title, date, named persons, and so forth, but your search terms only turn up words found in these fields. Abstracts, subject headings and full-text searching are not supported, and even titles and authors may not always be provided. Keep this mind as you craft your search.
Try to think as the industry might. Be creative. Consider using names (including variations of spelling) of people, places and organizations, as well as any abbreviations which are applicable. Limiting your search by date range or by combining terms (e.g., "minnesota or mn AND legislation") will help return more relevant results, as well.
If you find a useful document or one which might lead to others, try a search on the folder number, which will provide you with the other documents filed around that one in the boxes provided by the industry to the depository.
As you read through your retrieved documents, make another list of possible terms on which to search.
Philip Morris, Tobacco Institute and Lorillard provide the same search structure and interface but their field names and corresponding search terms differ. Also, realize that each company's site contains unique content and must be searched individually.
Go to Lorillard Fields and search strategies are the same for each site, and bear most similarities to the Tobacco Institute site, except that the field names and search terms for field differ.
Document Indexing
The documents are indexed by the following information:
Document Identification number (Did), Master ID (Mid), Other Number (Onumber), Document Date (Ddate), Primary Type (Ptype), Other Type (Otype), Person Author (Pauthor), Person Recipient (Precipient), Person Copied (Pcopied), Person Mentioned (Pmentioned), Person Attending (Pattending), Person Noted (Pnoted), Org Author (OAuthor), Org Recipient (Orecipient), Org Copied (Ocopied), Org Mentioned (Omentioned), Org Attending (Oattending), Org Noted (Onoted), Physical Attachment1 (Pattachment1), Physical Attachment2 (Pattachment2), Characteristics (Characteristics), File Name (Fname), Site (Site), Area (Area), Title (Title), Old Brand (Obrand), Primary Brand (Pbrand), Mentioned Brand (Mbrand), Page Count (Pcount), Request Number (Rnumber), Date Loaded (Dloaded), Litigation Usage (Usage).
The documents are also indexed by "compound fields" where the user can implement a search that will encompass a range of fields: Did - Document ID, Master ID; Type - Primary Type, Other Type; Person - Person Author, Person Recipient, Person Copied, Person Mentioned, and Person Attending; Org - Org Noted, Org Author, Org Recipient, Org Copied, Org Mentioned, Org Attending, and Org Noted; Brand - Primary Brand, Old Brand, Mentioned Brand; Author - Person Author and Organization Author; Recipient - Person Prepicient and Organization Recipient; Copied - Person Copied and Organization Copied; Mention - Person Mention and Organization Mention; Noted - Person Noted and Organization Noted; Attend - Person Attend and Organization Attend.
Searching the Index
The document index can be searched using the familiar Alta Vista™ search engine. This search engine returns results based upon a ranking of the presence of search terms in the document index.
You can perform simple or advanced (Boolean) searches by using the Alta Vista™ search procedure. For performing a simple search, this procedure supports the basic operators + and - which indicate words or phrases that are required or prohibited in the search results. Alta Vista™ also allows advanced search capabilities that support the Boolean logic operators AND, OR, NOT, and NEAR, as well as the ability to specify ranking words that are different from the words in the search query.
Understanding Simple and Advanced Search
Both the simple and advanced search procedures follow the same basic rules for processing queries. The search engine interprets a word as any combination of letters and numbers. Alta Vista™ searches ignore punctuation except to interpret it as a separator for words.
Key points include:
- A group of two or more words enclosed in double quotes (e.g., "tobacco company") indicates a phrase. Phrasing ensures that the search engine finds the words together, instead of looking for separate instances of each word individually.
- An asterisk (*) following three or more characters (i.e., wildcard), will find all words that begin with the characters selected.
- Search Terms are not case sensitive.
Using Logical Operators to Refine a Search
Both simple and advanced search support the use of various operators that can help you refine the results of a search.
Simple Search Operators
Simple search supports two basic operators:
Simple search operators must directly precede the word that the user
wants to include or exclude, with no space between the operator and the word.
For example, the following simple query expression requests document
index entries that must contain the word results and must also contain the phrase year end:
"year end" +results
Advanced Search Operators
The following are the advanced search operators and their meaning:
For example, the following query requests that either of the words apple or pear appear in the same index entry with either of the words tart or pie.
(apple OR pear) AND (tart OR pie)
Specifying a Field in Your Search
You can limit your search to specific field(s) by using the syntax:
field: search string
For example, the following query searches for the word training in the document's Title field.
title: training
Each field in the index can be specified in your search using the following search items:
Alta Vista™ operators can be used in conjunction with specifying a term in your search. For example, the following query requests that both the words software and training appear in the document's Title field.
title: (software + training)
Using Dates in Your Search
You can search for a document by date using the following format: [yyyymmdd].
Searching Using Dates and Date Ranges
You can use dates or date ranges to limit your searches. The date is returned in the search results. You can limit your search with a date range added as an extra Boolean search term using the fields: docdate - document date or loaddate - date the document was loaded to the site. The format of the range is field:[dd/mm/yyyy-dd/mm/yyyy]. If you omit the beginning date, your search result will contain all documents through the end date. If you only want the documents with one date, use the same beginning and ending dates.
Understanding Relevance Ranking
Document index entries retrieved as a result of a search are ranked based upon the number of words in a search query that they contain. The index entries containing the most search words will be ranked the highest.
Viewing Your Selected Document
Once you have selected a document it can be viewed in one of two ways:
- Page by Page - This option gives you the ability to view/print single pages of the document, one at a time. While viewing the page you will have the ability to rotate it 90 degrees to the left or to the right to adjust for landscape images. This is the default page view.
- View All - This allows you to view and or print an entire document continuously. This is the recommended choice for printing the entire document. This feature may be accessed by pressing the "view all pages" button in the page view window. To return to the page view window, press the "back" key on your browser.
- Philip Morris, Lorillard and the Tobacco Institute also offer documents in PDF format. These can be viewed, printed, and downloaded using Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Downloading Your Selected Document
- PDF - Philip Morris, Lorillard and the Tobacco Institute also offer documents in PDF format. These can be viewed, printed, and downloaded using Adobe Acrobat Reader.
- Page by Page - The document is comprised of individual image files, one per page, which must be downloaded individually. Once your "All Pages" pages has begin to load, right-click on the top image, and choose the "Open Frame in New Window" option. Then you must right-click on each individual image/page and "Save Image As" to it's proper location on your computer. This is where naming the files becomes important. Use whatever naming scheme makes the most sense to you, so that you can find your documents again easily. Consider using individual folders for each subject area of your searching, and consider using the company name in the file name, i.e. "rjr1-2" within the "New Jersey" folder might indicate it's from RJR, the first document, second page, found in your search on the term "New Jersey". When you've downloaded each page, close that browser window, and click "Results" to return to your 'hits'. CAUTION: hitting the "Back" button will return to you the opening screen again, and you will have lost your 'hits'; use the "Return" button.
Print A Document
You can print images from this website using the Print functions in your Internet browser - either using File, Print or by clicking on the Print button in the toolbar. CAUTION: You MUST click on the image prior to initiating the Print command. This website uses frames, and this click will ensure the browser knows which frame you want to print.
R.J. Reynolds/Council for Tobacco Research
Go to R. J. Reynolds
Go to Council for Tobacco Research R. J. Reynolds and Council for Tobacco Research provide the same search structure and interface. However, realize that each company's site contains unique content and must be searched individually.
There are three basic approaches to searching:
- Search all textual fields at once for single or multiple terms for general searching (largest number of 'hits').
- Search for single terms in one or more individual fields for precise searching.
- Search for multiple terms in one or more individual fields for more precise searching (fewest number of 'hits').
Begin your search by clicking New Search in the left frame of this website. You will see a list of the fields available for searching. Field Definitions provides not only a definition of the data in the field and but also example(s) for effective searching. You can type a word or phrase into one or more fields or you can use the Index Terms feature. Index Terms are the complete list of values that occur in the database for a particular field. You can select one or more terms to include in your search by clicking on the selection box next to the term. You can do this in one or more fields.
Execute your search by clicking on one of the Search buttons located at the top and bottom of the New Search page.
Search Operators
The operators AND (represented by the symbol '&'amp;) and OR (represented by the symbol ',') can be used in searching each of the data fields.
For example, searching in the Title field for 'Winston & Salem' will retrieve all records that contain BOTH 'Winston' & 'Salem' in the Title. Likewise, searching for 'Winston, Salem' will return all records that contain EITHER 'Winston' OR 'Salem' in the Title.
You can use multiple operators in a single field, but they must be the same operator. Also, there is a limit of twenty (20) search terms for a single field.
For example, searching for 'Winston, Salem, Camel' will return all records that contain any one of the three values.
You can specify operators in more than one field for the same search; the database considers the operator AND to be in effect between the fields, meaning the search results must meet the first criteria AND the second criteria AND the third...
For example, using 'Winston, Salem' in the Title field and 'Minnesota Plex, Florida Plex' in the Trial Exhibits field will result in all records that have EITHER 'Winston' OR 'Salem' in the Title AND EITHER 'Minnesota Plex' or 'Florida Plex' in the Trial Exhibits field.
Searching for Exact Terms (using quotation marks)
You can find multiple word phrases (e.g., Winston Lights) by placing single quotation marks around the phrase. In this example, you would type ’Winston Lights’ (with the single quotation marks).
Searching for Partial Terms (using wildcards)
Wildcards can be used only in Text fields; they do not work in Date fields.
You can use the wildcards for single characters (represented by ?) and multiple characters (represented by *), but not in the same search field.
You can, when using search criteria in multiple fields, use wildcards in more than one field.
Using Dates in Searches
Wildcards will not work in Date fields. The format for all date fields is YYYYMMDD, where YYYY represents a 4-digit year (e.g., 1999), MM represents a 2-digit month (e.g., 03 for March), and DD represents a 2-digit day (e.g., 12 for the 12th of the month).
A date may include some zero values when the exact date is not known; e.g., if the document was created in June, 1975 but the specific day is not known, the date field will be '19750600. This will affect date range searches as described below.
You can find all the documents in a date range by using the beginning and ending dates separated by a colon (:). For example, to find all the documents between June 2, 1975 and June 9, 1975, type '19750602:19750609'.
CAUTION: Due to the use of zero values as described above, you must consider the beginning of a month to be YYYYMM00 and the end of the month to be YYYYMM99. The same is true for the year; YYYY0000 is the beginning and YYYY9999 is the end. For example, if you want to find all the documents in June, 1975, the search criteria is '19750600:19750699'.
Using Checkbox Fields in Searches
Checkbox fields (e.g., Documents with Marginalia) work like typing 'Yes' or 'No' into the field. In other words, checking the field Documents with Marginalia causes the query to include only those documents that have Marginalia. These fields can be used in conjunction with other search criteria. For example, you can find all the documents with 'Winston' in the Title and that also have Marginalia.
Additional Tips for Searching
Search terms are not case sensitive. Search results are displayed in accordance with a database accession number and do not reflect a relevance ranking.
Each field name is linked to a definition or you can view explanations for all fields by selecting the Field Definition page.
Click the "Search" button when you are ready to submit your search query. Click the "Clear" button to clear all fields and checkmarks and begin your defining your search criteria again.
Retrieve a Document Image
When you click the Search button, any documents responsive to your search criteria will be returned in a list. The list will include all the data for the record(s). Clicking on the hyperlinked Title will retrieve the first image of the document.
If the document consists of multiple pages, clicking on the All Pages button will start a download of all the pages to your browser. This provides the advantage of being able to scroll through the pages while they are downloading in the background, and is particularly useful on a limited dial-up connection.
Downloading Document Images
Once your "All Pages" pages has begin to load, right-click on the top image, and choose the "Open Frame in New Window" option. Then you must right-click on each individual image/page and "Save Image As" to it's proper location on your computer. This is where naming the files becomes important. Use whatever naming scheme makes the most sense to you, so that you can find your documents again easily. Consider using individual folders for each subject area of your searching, and consider using the company name in the file name, i.e. "rjr1-2" within the "New Jersey" folder might indicate it's from RJR, the first document, second page, found in your search on the term "New Jersey".
When you've downloaded each page, close that browser window, and click "Results" to return to your 'hits'. CAUTION: hitting the "Back" button will return to you the opening screen again, and you will have lost your 'hits'.
Print A Document
You can print images from this website using the Print functions in your Internet browser - either using File, Print or by clicking on the Print button in the toolbar.
CAUTION: You MUST click on the image prior to initiating the Print command. This website uses frames, and this click will ensure the browser knows which frame you want to print.
The search interface of the Tobacco Institute site is nearly identical to that of Philip Morris and Lorillard, but the field definitions and abbreviations differ.
The following chart contains information regarding the The Tobacco Institute index documents contained in this website:
Using Standard Search
To search for documents in the Brown & Williamson or the American Tobacco Company collection using Standard Search, simply type your search criteria adjacent to the Document Property on the search form (below) and click the Search button. If you provide a search term for more than one Document Property, an automatic Boolean "AND" is assumed. To delete all search terms on the form, click the Clear button.
References to "MN" below refer to the Minnesota litigation, and reflect coding fields in the index created for or relating to the productions of documents in that case.
The properties Document Type, Other Doc Type, MN Request Num, and MN Select include pick lists containing valid search terms. To select a value from a pick list, click the down arrow and select the preferred Search Term. The following phrase abbreviations have been added to the Standard Search screen pick lists. They replace the longer version of the search term.
Brown & Williamson Collection Field: Document Type
ATCO Collection Field: Document Type
ATCO Collection Field: MN Request Num
Property Names Definition
The following table lists the Document Properties available for searching and a brief description of each property in terms of the collection.
Using Advanced Search
Advanced Search allows you to construct your own statements using several conventions found in most Web search engines. To access Advanced Search, click on the phrase "Click here for Advanced Search" located near the top of
the Standard Search screen. (To return to Standard Search, click on the phrase "Click here for Standard Search" located near the top of the Advanced Search screen.)
To use Advanced Search:
- Click on the first Document Property to search, enter a search term in the Prompt dialog (displayed below) and click OK to continue, or Cancel to abandon and return to the Advanced Search screen.
- The search phrase syntax appears in the Advanced Search text box (see below):
- To include additional Document Properties using the Boolean connector AND or OR, first click on the desired Boolean search (so it appears in the box), select an additional Document Property, complete the Prompt dialog with the Search Term, and click OK. To add more search phrases, simply continue this process until your search is complete. At any time, you may key directly into the Advanced Search text box and create your search statement without any assistance from the system.
Search Operators (using Advanced Search)
A query using Search Operators in Advanced Search is more powerful than a Standard Search, yet is relatively easy to use. You may search one or more document properties and look for data that exactly matches (=), is between, or contains the criteria you enter. Remember, when searching in a text field, the search term must be contained in double-quotes (" ").
CONTAINS: Use this operator in a search statements to find documents that contain the specified value in a field that contains alphanumeric characters. The value can be a letter, word, phrase, or number in either upper or lower case (the search is not case sensitive) and must include punctuation. You can search for numbers only if the field you are searching in can also contain characters. Always remember to enclose your search term in double-quotes.
BETWEEN: Use this operator in a search statement to find documents that include number or date values that are greater than or equal to the first specified value and less than or equal to the second specified value.
EQUALS: Use this operator in search statements to find documents that contain values in a particular number field that exactly match the specified value.
For example, the following phrases are all valid search statements:
@xTitle CONTAINS "tobacco"
@xDocumentDate = 19920101
@xDocumentDate BETWEEN 19960101 AND 19980101
Wildcards
Wildcards let you enter a partial search value in CONTAINS operator statements where one or more characters that are to be matched are not specified.
Search statements follow a set of syntax structure patterns that search on either individual words or contiguous strings. By default, a word is defined as any sequence of letters or digits separated by a white space (spaces, newlines, tabs, etc.) or punctuation characters (&, ., ; etc). There is one wildcard and two special characters that provide searching tools that aid in finding documents:
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