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The Research Process: Boolean Search

This guide will walk you through the steps necessary to complete any research assignment and help you avoid the stress associated with waiting until the last minute to get started.

Overview

Getting Started

AND, OR  & NOT are all words that link concepts together to improve searches when using search engines such as Google or databases such as EbscoHost.  These terms are associated with Irish mathematician George Boole, thus the term Boolean logic or Boolean searching. 

  1. To visualize how these terms work together to organize a search take a look at the Boolean Machine by Rockwell Schrock.
  2. To read a comprehensive summary about Boolean Logic link to this information page Boolean Searching on the Internet by librarian Laura B. Cohen. 

Boolean Search Demonstration

View this video from the University of Auckland about using Boolean searching with a variety of searching tools.