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Searching Tips
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Wildcard Searches
You may perform wildcard searches by using a wildcard asterisk (*)
in the Last or First Name fields in both defendant/party name, attorney name, and business name
searches. The NDCRI search engine looks for records that exactly match the information that you
enter into the fields. If you are unsure of punctuation (e.g., apostrophe or hyphenated names) or
spelling of full names, using a wildcard asterisk will return more variations of the search criteria entered.
Note: You must enter at least the first 3 characters of the last name followed by
an asterisk and at least the first character of the first name followed by an asterisk.
Examples:
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Soundex Searches
Soundex is a feature that identifies names that,
although spelled differently, sound similar when spoken. For example,
if when using soundex you entered the last name of "Smith",
NDCRI would also return "Smyth" because the two names sound alike
when spoken. Use soundex when you are unsure of the spelling, but know
the names start with the same letter. To use this feature, select the
“Use Soundex” search option.
When using soundex, keep the following in mind:
In order for
the "Use Soundex" feature to work, the names must start with
the same letter. For example, this feature will not work with names like
"Carl" and "Karl", or "Jean" and "Gene". The "Use
Soundex" feature requires the entry of a minimum of three letters.
It will not return accurate results when only the first letter of the
name is known.
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Note:
Current soundex technology works well with the English
pronunciation of names, but not with foreign pronunciation or cultural
differences between names (such as silent letters). Use care when using
soundex to search for non-English names. |
Example:
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Names Are Not Case Sensitive
You may enter first, middle, and last names
in uppercase, lowercase, or a combination of both (upper-lower). The
search will return the same results, regardless of case.
Examples:
All
Uppercase
Upper-Lower
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Permitted Characters in Search
Fields
Special characters, such as a slash (“/”) and
ampersand (“&”), are not allowed in NDCRI search fields. Only the following
characters are accepted:
In Number Fields:
0-9 a-z A-Z Minus sign
(-) Asterisk (*)
In Name Fields:
0-9 a-z A-Z Apostrophe
(’) Comma (,) Period (.) Minus sign
(-) Asterisk (*)
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