Skip to Main Content

Libraries

Return to Library Home Page

Library Staff - Login to LibApps

BIO 498/555: Environmental Physiology

Boolean Searching

Boolean searching makes use of AND, OR, and NOT to combine terms and groups of terms for more precise searching.

AND - Makes your search more narrow by requiring the results to have both terms present.
Venn diagram for Boolean search using AND

OR - Makes your search broader by pulling in results with both terms even if the other term isn't present. 

Venn diagram of Boolean search using OR
 

NOT- Makes your search smaller by excluding results with both terms.

Venn diagram of Boolean search using NOT

Combing the terms you've discovered with Boolean searching makes for strong strategy.  But searches can be made even more precise using additional search syntax and limiters.