Boolean Operators are the words AND, OR, and NOT. You use these terms to connect keywords or search words to help you search online databases more effectively and efficiently.

Use AND to connect two unlike words and narrow your search.

Use OR to connect to like words and broaden your search.

Use NOT to exclude a word from your search results.

Need to search a database? Watch this Boolean clip to learn how to combine search words and get the results you are looking for.

Adapted from the materials created by The University of Auckland Library, NZ. This video is covered by a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-ShareAlike license.

Definition:

To shorten or cut off at the end.

The process of searching for a keyword in a database:

• in plural or singular form

• as a root word with multiple endings

Examples:

theat* (use for theater and theatre)

wom*n (use for woman or women)

child* (use for child or children)

By adding an asterisk to the root word you can search for that word with all possible endings.