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Find files with smart search and smart filters

Smart Search helps debaters find highly relevant and specific articles. With Smart Search, you can target keywords and enter parameters to narrow the search results. Separately, Smart Filters allow you to organize and reorganize the articles that are displayed in the Article Feed.

How do I launch Smart Search?

Select the down-arrow icon to the right of the search field, in the upper navigation bar.

How can I narrow search results with Smart Search?

Once Smart Search launches, you will be able to specify keywords (e.g., all of these words, this exact word phrase, none of these words, etc.) and narrow search results (e.g., articles published after a certain date, articles published by a certain news source, etc.).

How do I launch Smart Filters?

Select the three-bar-gauges icon next to the right of the down arrow icon, in the upper navigation bar.

What are the smart filter options?

You can sort articles by most recent, oldest, alphabetical A-Z and alphabetical Z-A.

You can also filter articles between those you’ve read or have not yet read, those that were originally web articles or PDF files, those that you caught or that were contributed by a teammate, and those that have been saved to Extemp or saved to Congress.

Can I use Smart Search and Smart Filters at the same time?

No. Smart Search and Smart Filters are meant to be used separately from one another.

If you use Smart Search, it will return articles according to the parameters of your search. Articles will also be algorithmically weighted, with the articles most relevant to your search criteria appearing at the top. Thus, you can’t apply filters to Smart Search. If you change the filters while the Article Feed presents Smart Search results, the Library will clear the search results and present articles according to the filters.

What happens if I just enter text in the search bar, without opening or using Smart Search?

You will perform a standard search, which is effectively Smart Search according to default settings. The results will include articles that contain any of the submitted keywords in either the title or the body, weighted according to relevancy.