Frequently Asked Questions

The most commonly used Boolean Operators in searching are AND OR NOT

• AND joins your search terms and narrows your results
  • both keywords listed must in the citation, abstract, article or text
  • nursing AND vaccine = both words present
• OR searches both/either term and expands your results
  • just one of the keywords needs to be in the citation, abstract, article or text
  • dog OR canine = either the word is present
• NOT excludes the term placed directly after it
  • the keyword following NOT will not be in the citation, abstract, article or text
  • bee NOT spelling = spelling is excluded, results show insects but not competitions
• Place an exact title or phrase in "quotation marks"

More detailed information and examples can be found on the libguide linked below