CMC Library Ledger

Search Tip: Connecting Your Keywords

In the last Search Tip post, we talked about how important keywords are. However, how you connect keywords when searching is also very important. You have probably used the Boolean operator “and” before to connect keywords in a search (even if you didn’t know it was called that!), but you can also use “or” and “not” to connect keywords and influence the search results you get.

Here are some helpful examples:

The Boolean operator “and” will find results that use both of the keywords connected. Your search won’t return results that contain only one of the keywords connected by “and.”

The Boolean operator “or” will find results that contain either of the keywords connected. Your search will return results that contain one or both of the keywords connected by “or.”

Librarian Tip: Even librarians get what “and” and “or” do mixed up sometimes! To keep them straight, remember “Both-And, Either-Or,” and “Or is More.”

The Boolean operator “not” will find results that exclude the keyword after it.  Your search will return results that contain the first keyword only.

You can use multiple Boolean operators together as well:

This search, for example, will return results that contain either “dog” or “cat” or both, but no results that contain CatDog.

Librarian Tip: Another way to connect keywords is to use quotation marks. This is best for when you want to search a whole phrase, such as “multilevel marketing” or “mobile ultrasound devices.” Put quotes around the phrase so your results will contain all those words together in that order, not just one of the words by themselves.