Hewes Library: Research Process: 2d. Search Strategies

Boolean Searching

Boolean operators (connector words) such as AND, OR, and NOT, create phrases based on rules of search logic.

Operator	Examples	Results
AND	business AND ethics cookery AND Spain	Retrieves records that contain ALL of the search terms.
OR	hotels OR motels www OR world wide web theater OR theatre	Retrieves records that contain ANY of the search terms, but does not necessarily include all of them.
NOT	java NOT coffee Clinton NOT (William OR Bill)	Excludes records containing the second search term.

Truncation/Wildcard Symbols

Truncation and wildcard symbols can broaden your search and allow you to look for variations of words.
For example, searching sport* would bring up variations such as sport, sports, sporting, and sporty.

Note: The truncation symbol varies depending on the electronic resource you are searching. For more information, consult the database’s “help” or “search tips” pages.

Tip!

Are you finding too much information or perhaps not finding enough? Use alternative, narrower, or broader keywords to vary your results.

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Information

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Boolean Searching Visualized

Truncation Examples

Truncation
The “*” replaces any number of characters and will find all forms of a word root.

child* LOCATES child, children, childhood
therap* LOCATES therapy, therapies, therapist, therapists, therapeutic, therapeutically

Wildcard
Note: symbols used may differ based on the tool used. Consult the help documentation.

Wildcard "#" replaces any extra characters that may appear in alternative spellings.

colo#r LOCATES color, colour

Wildcard "?” replaces one character

ne?t LOCATES neat, nest, or next, but will not find net