IRIS 42: Information and Research Instruction Suite for two-year colleges

Boolean Operators

Tools for Searching Databases

Because databases are highly structured, you can use special techniques to search them more effectively. When you want to find more than one word or idea, you need to enter your search in a way that the database will understand.

Connector words such as AND, OR and NOT are important to use when you combine ideas. When used in searching online databases, the terms AND, OR, and NOT are called Boolean operators.

Outcomes

After completing this module, you should be able to:

  • Identify how using 'and' 'or' and 'not' changes a search in a database.
  • Identify how to narrow large search results.
  • Identify how to increase small search results.

 

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updated: 28 August, 2009