Boolean Operators
Operators – “AND” “OR” “NOT” / “AND NOT”
AND
Narrows search by retrieving documents that contains every one of the keywords; the more terms, the narrower the search
EXAMPLE: truth AND justice
EXAMPLE: truth AND justice AND ethics AND congress
OR
Broadens search by returning documents that contains either or both; useful mainly to obtain pages with similar words or ideas (synonyms)
EXAMPLE: college OR university
EXAMPLE: college OR university OR institution OR campus
NOT or AND NOT (ANDNOT)
Limits search by excluding documents that contain the second keyword
EXAMPLE: saturn AND NOT car
EXAMPLE: pepsi AND NOT coke
Nesting with Boolean Operators
Nesting, i.e., using parentheses is an effective way to combine several search statements into one search statement. Use parentheses to separate keywords when you are using more than one operator and three or more keywords.
EXAMPLE: (hybrid OR electric) AND (Toyota OR Honda)
(For best results, always enclose OR statements in parentheses.)
Note: in most search engines (e.g. Google), the AND Boolean operator is assumed; some may use OR
Examples come from the USC Beaufort Library
Simplified search syntax
Use “+” in front of words that must be present (Boolean AND)
Use “-“ in front of words that are not wanted (Boolean NOT)
Use double quotation marks (“ “) around phrases to search for that exact combination and order
See USC Beaufort Library quick Tips page
http://www.sc.edu/beaufort/library/pages/bones/lesson7.shtml
Advanced Search Pages
Gives you a menu-driven option instead of using Boolean operators
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?hl=en
Field Searching
http://www.sc.edu/beaufort/library/pages/bones/lesson9.shtml
