AND, OR, NOT
Purpose: Use Boolean operators to search with strategy
Boolean operators, or connectors, are used to retrieve relevant results. The Boolean operators are the conjunctions AND, OR, NOT. Boolean logic derives from mathematician, George Boole.
- Searching with AND connects words/phrases. The results must have both terms in the results.
- Searching with OR will contain results with either search word/phrase indicated but not necessarily both terms on either side of OR.
- Searching with NOT excludes a specific word/phrase. The results will contain the term appearing before the connector "NOT" but will exclude the term after the connector "NOT."
These concepts are represented with Venn diagrams in the tables below.
Boolean Operators Table
| Boolean Operator | Results | Scope |
|---|---|---|
|
AND
|
Using the Boolean connector AND, search results must contain the search words Beethoven AND quartets. |
Narrow |
|
OR
|
Using the Boolean connector OR, search results contain either Beethoven OR quartets in the results. | Broad |
|
NOT
|
Using the connector NOT before the keyword "Beethoven," excludes Beethoven from a search for quartets. | Exclusionary |
|
Complex Searches with two operators
|
Building a search with multiple Boolean operators (AND, NOT), search results must contain information about Beethoven and quartets but no results about Schubert. | These are often very narrow, specific searches. |
Watch the video below for demonstrations on Boolean operator searching in the Discover catalog.
Boolean Operators Poll
AND: 2 votes (100%)
OR: 0 votes (0%)
Total Votes: 2