Frequently Asked Questions

Where does the Search Box appear?

• From the Home Page, click on the Search Our Library link at the top of the list of Practice Areas in the left column.
• If you click the Library section from the top navigation, you will be brought to a page with the Practice Areas listed in the left column.  Again, the Search Our Library link appears at the top of the list of Practice Areas.
• The Search Box Also appears at the top of every library section home page and at the top of every library category browse page.  So, if you go to a Library Section first, you can start by browsing a category, then switch to Search to refine your results.

How do I use the Search Box?

• The only field that you must complete when searching is the "Search Library" field -- you must enter a word with at least 3 characters into this field.  If you enter more than one word in the search box, MLS will search for results which contain all words.
• To search for a specific phrase, put quotations around the phrase. 
• You can search for a particular type of document, such as administrative (hearing) decisions, court decisions, court or agency materials, etc. by selecting a choice from the "Typse" field.  For example, if you enter the words attorneys and fees in the "Search Library" field, and select "Court Decisions" from the "Types" field, the search will return only documents (from the entire library) which have been coded as being Court Decision, and which contain the words attorneys and fees.
• Another way to limit your search is to search only a particular practice area (e.g. Benefits, Housing).  To limit your search to a particular practice area, select the practice area you want to search from the "Practice Area" field. 
• Once you have selected a Practice Area, you can limit your search even further by restricting it to a particular category or subcategory.  If you choose to search within a particular Practice Area, a field titled "Category" will display.  This "Category" field contains a list of all of the categories and subcategories in that Practice Area.  (A subcategory is identified by the hyphen in front of its name).  If you select a Category from the pick list, the search will include all of the documents in that Category as well as all of the Subcategories that are part of that Category.  If you select a Subcategory from the pick list, the search will include only the documents in that particular subcategory.
• You can also limit your search by date -- choose the starting month and year, and the ending month and year of the time period you wish to search from the "By Date Range" field.

How can I navigate my search results?

• The initial display of your search results is by "relevance".  However, you can resort the display by Date, Author or Title.  Simply click on one of these words, which appear directly below the Search Box on the results page.  To go back to the original display, select the Sort By Relevance choice.
• The search results tell you how many results you have.  If you have far too many, consider limiting your search.  Not enough?  Consider making your search broader.
• In the left hand column is a display of the different Categories and Subcategories that your particular search results are labeled with.  If you click on the Category or Subcategory name, you will be brought to a list of your search results that are found within these areas.
• Sometimes, you will also see a "Tag Cloud" at the bottom of the left column.  This means that at least some of your search results have been labeled with a User Tag describing the content.  If you click on one of the Tags in the Tag Cloud, a list of all of your search results with this Tag will show.

1. There is a log in box in the upper right portion of the banner at the top of the home page.  There is a link called "Forgot password?"  Click this link.
2. When you click the "forgot password" link, you are brought to a new screen titled "manage your account".  There is a field which asks for your username or e-mail address.  Enter your work e-mail address, and click the "e-mail new password" button.
3. Once you click the "e-mail password" button, two things happen.  You are brought to a new "manage your account" screen. Ignore this screen. Instead, go to your e-mail, because you have been sent an e-mail from the site (it may take a few minutes for this e-mail to arrive).  Open the e-mail that has just been sent to you from the site.
4. This e-mail will contain a link that you can click on to reset your password  (the link should start with http).  Click on this link.  You are brought to a screen called "reset password".  Click the "log in" button on this screen.
5. Once you click the "log in" button, you are brought to your own account page.  At the top of the page, you will see your username.  You will also see a field for e-mail address (don't change this), a field called "password" and a field called "confirm password".  Type in the password that you would like to use in both password fields.  You do not need to change the password that you previously used -- you can enter the same one.
6. Scroll down to the bottom of the screen, and click the "submit" button.  You will again see your account screen.  Click the word "home" from the breadcrumb menu (in the top section of the screen, all the way to the left side, underneath the Logo for MassLegalServices) to go to the home page, and start exploring the website!

Only staff affiliated with the Massachusetts legal services programs listed in the Directory are eligible to register for an account, and some content and sections of MLS are restricted to members. If you are such a staff person, you have already been registered for an account and assigned a username; if you do not know your username or password, use the "forgot password" feature that is part of the log in box in the top right corner of the banner. (If you are eligible for an account and do not have one, contact us.) However, the public is welcome to access many features of our site, including material in the poverty law library and the Find Legal Help Directory.