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Tips for Searching
Boolean AND, OR and NOT | Truncation and Wildcards | Phrase Searching
Putting Concepts Together - Boolean AND, OR and NOT
Use AND and OR to combine keywords or phrases.
- AND narrows a search - results must contain both terms.
Use AND to combine separate concepts. - OR broadens a search - results can contain either term,
or both.
Use OR to combine synonyms. - NOT narrows a search - results can contain one term, not
the other.
Use NOT to exclude terms
| Operator | Sample Search | The search will find... | Diagram of Results |
|---|---|---|---|
| AND | careers and medicine |
Items that contain both "careers" and "medicine" |
 |
| OR | occupations or careers |
Items that contain either "occupations" or "careers" |
 |
| NOT (sometimes AND NOT) |
assisted suicide not kevorkian |
Items that contain "assisted suicide" but not "kevorkian" |
 |
Truncation and Wildcards
A symbol at the end of a word stem provides for all variants on the word stem. The most commonly used symbol is the asterisk (*), but this varies among databases.
For example, a search for
librar*
will retrieve:
library, libraries, librarian, etc.
Be careful not to truncate too far, or you will retrieve unrelated words!
Internal Truncation
A symbol within a word provides for all possible variants inside a word or word stem. The most commonly used symbol for internal truncation is #. For example, a search for
wom#n
will retrieve:
woman, women
Look at online help for each database to determine the truncation symbols.
Phrase Searching
Some databases require a phrase to be in quotes. Ex:"higher education"
Content based on Duke University Guide to Library Research: Electronic Searching