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Sussex Library Guide for Schools and Colleges

Video guides: Search Connectors

How to search using boolean connectors

Use Boolean connector AND to focus your search
Using AND between search words will instruct to the database to find all of your search terms present in the search results, thereby narrowing and refining your search results.

 

Use Boolean connector OR to broaden your search
Using OR between your search words will connect two or more similar concepts together; the database will find at least one of your terms present in the results, thus broadening your search results.

 

Use Boolean connector NOT to eliminate keywords and phrases
Using NOT between search words will narrow your search, by eliminating specific keywords or phrases from your search.

 

Combining multiple Boolean connectors in one search
 

 

Search commands

Search phrases in quote marks
If you have two or more words that you want to find next to one another, search for them as a complete phrase by placing them in double quotation marks. 

 

Search multiple versions of the same word at once 
Truncation searching, is the act of shortening or truncating a word and searching it with the truncation symbol (the asterisk*), to broaden your search to search multiple versions of the word at once.