Boolean operators online
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The document provides guidance on using Boolean operators such as AND, OR, and NOT to effectively search for information. It explains that using OR will return more results by capturing articles that contain either of the search terms, while AND requires articles to contain both search terms. NOT can narrow results by excluding unwanted terms but may also remove some relevant articles. The document illustrates examples of different searches using these Boolean operators and analyzes which search strategy would be most effective for the given information need.
Boolean operators online
- 1. You’re researching a company that makes environmentally sustainable products. Which search will give you the better results? a. A company name AND environmentally sustainable products b. A company name OR environmentally sustainable products
- 2. b. Using “AND” will give you the better results. Your results will include every article that mentions the company’s name AND environmentally sustainable products. Using OR would provide you with articles that include the company’s name OR articles that contain environmentally sustainable products. a. Company name AND environmentally sustainable products b. Company Name OR environmentally sustainable products
- 3. You are looking for articles on paper products that are environmentally sustainable. Which search will give you narrower – or more targeted - results? a. (Paper products OR environmentally sustainable products) AND company name b. Paper products AND environmentally sustainable products AND company name
- 4. b. Searching paper products AND environmentally sustainable products will produce results that include only those paper products that are environmentally sustainable, and will not include articles about paper products that are not environmentally sustainable. Searching paper products OR environmentally sustainable products will include articles on products that are not necessarily paper. a. (Paper products OR environmentally sustainable products) AND company name b. Paper products AND environmentally sustainable products AND company name
- 5. Why is “NOT” used here? U.S. companies AND environmentally sustainable products NOT paper products
- 6. In this search, the researcher was interested in finding articles about environmentally sustainable products that are NOT paper products. One risk in using NOT is that articles that may contain some useful information might be eliminated from your search. For instance, there might be a good article about a product that is not paper, but it may not appear in the search if the article also contains information about paper products, since paper products have been eliminated from the search. Nevertheless, it is a good starting point for this particular search, because once those non-paper products have been identified, then the researcher can better refine the search.
- 7. Which search will give you better results? a. (Heart attack OR myocardial infarction) AND symptoms b. Heart attack AND myocardial infarction AND symptoms
- 8. a. This is a good example of when to use OR. In this search, articles that contain both the terms heart attack OR myocardial infarction will appear. In the search using AND, only those articles that contain both terms – heart attack and myocardial infarction in the same article – will be produced, eliminating valuable articles. Since the researcher wants to capture all the articles that have to do with heart attacks, using multiple terms will produce better results. In this case, the terms are “nested” in parentheses. a. (Heart attack OR myocardial infarction) AND symptoms b. Heart attack AND myocardial infarction AND symptoms
- 9. Which search will get the most results? a. Elderly OR Aged b. Elderly
- 10. a. Since the elderly may also be described as aged, using both terms will yield better results. a. Elderly OR Aged b. Elderly
- 11. . Using an EBSCO database, click on the Help button, located in the top right hand corner, and then click on “Boolean” on the left hand side, under “Searching.”