Internet Search Tips


And, &, + : ALL terms must be present.
example
 
  Boolean "And"  
Since "And" searches must contain both Term 1 and Term 2,
the results will be the small group in the center.

The following are general guidelines for Boolean searching. Some Internet search engines may apply these guidelines differently.

Boolean Searching

Or, | : ANY of the terms must be present.
example
  
  Boolean "Or"  
Since "Or" searches can contain either Term 1 or Term 2 or both, the results are larger than an "And" search.
 
NOT, !, - : Term must NOT be present.
example
  
  Boolean "Not"  

Since "Not" searches can only contain one term, results with both terms are eliminated.
 

( ) : Terms within parenthesis are treated as a group.

“ ” : Terms within quotation marks are treated as exact text.

Other possible operators, depending upon the search engine:

* : Allows search to include different endings (for example, "comput*" would get results from "computation," "compute," "computer," "computers," etc.

~ : Terms are within 10 words of each other.

 

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