Boolean Logic

Main Contents Page

Before you start

STEP 1: STARTING out

STEP 2: FINDING

Searching techniques:

- Boolean Logic

AND operator

OR operator

NOT operator

- Truncation/wildcards

- Phrase searching

Information finding tools:

- OPAC

- Webbridge

- Databases (incl CD Roms)

- Internet

- Dewey (DDC)

Information sources:

- Dictionaries

- Encyclopaedias

- Atlases

- Almanacs & yearbooks

- Books

- Periodicals/Journals

- Newspapers

- Audio-visual

- Internet

- Grey literature

- Broadcast media

- Conference proceedings

- Maps

- Government publications

- Standards

- Museums

- Archives

- Quiz

STEP 3: EVALUATE

STEP 4: Legal and ethical USE

STEP 5: COMMUNICATE

The OR operator

You use the OR connector to retrieve information in which any one of your keywords/terms appear. This operator will give you more results, as long as at least one of your search terms is present.

For example:

Put the two words together like this: Anorexia OR Bulimia - you will retrieve documents that contain anorexia or bulimia. Of course, you'll also retrieve documents that have both terms.