Searching Skills
- Searching Skills
- Focusing on a Topic
- Selecting Search Terms
- Constructing a Search Strategy
- Suggestions to Improve Search Results
Constructing a Search Strategy (page 2 of 4)
Boolean Search Operators
Boolean search operators (AND, OR, NOT) can be used to limit or expand your database search. These operators work in the library's online catalog, in most of the Sawyer Library's subscription databases, and in most Web directories and search engines.
| Boolean Operator | What It Does | Venn Diagram |
|---|---|---|
| AND | limits your search by requiring all terms searched to be in each result. Use it when doing keyword searches, not subject heading searches. Cats AND Dogs: in this example, the search finds all files with the word "cats" and a second search finds all instances of the word "dogs." It then combines the two searches, limiting the results to those sources with both the words "cats" and "dogs" in the text. |
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| OR | expands your search by requiring any of the terms searched to be in each result. Cats OR Dogs: in this example, the search finds all files with the word "cats" and a second search finds all instances of the word "dogs." It then combines the two searches, expanding those results to those sources with either of the words "cats" or "dogs" in the text. |
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| NOT | limits your search by excluding the term appearing after the NOT operator. Cats NOT Dogs: in this example, the search finds all files with the word "cats." It then conducts a second search of these specific files, identifying any file that includes the word "dogs." It limits the results to those sources which includes the word "cats" but not the word "dogs" in the text. |
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