AND OR NOT
The three most used Boolean operators are AND, OR, and NOT [they must be typed in all caps]. They connect your search words together to combine or exclude keywords in a search. This helps to narrow or broaden your set of results.
ProQuest and EBSCO databases and Google search accept Boolean operators.
AND narrows a search by telling the database that ALL keywords used must be found in order for an item to appear in your results list.
The search: Norfolk AND University will return items with both terms.
OR broadens a search by telling the database that ANY of the words it connects are acceptable. This is helpful when you are searching for similar terms, such as "cats" or "kittens."
The search: Norfolk OR University will return items with either term.
NOT narrows your search by telling the database to REMOVE all terms that follow it from your search results.
This can be useful when:
- you are interested in a very specific aspect of a topic.
- when you want to exclude a certain type of article.
The NOT operator should be used with caution, as you may miss out on relevant results.
The search: Norfolk NOT University will return items that only mention Norfolk.
NOTE: Google uses minus (-) instead of NOT. Learn more in this article directly from Google: Refine Google Searches