Boolean operators connect your search words. There are three of them.
AND |
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Both cat AND dog must appear in the results. |
Narrows the search. |
OR |
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Results will contain the words cat OR dog (OR both OR neither). | Broadens the search. |
NOT |
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Results will contain cat but NOT dog. | Narrows the search. |
When searching databases, it's extremely important that you connect your synonyms within the search boxes with ORs. Do not use the OR from the pull down on the left; this'll make a huge mess of your search. Only use AND, NOT from the left pull-down. Keeping the ORs within the search boxes will ensure that your boolean operators are executed in the proper order.