Boolean and Truncation Searching in EBSCO Databases

Andrew Januszak2014

Boolean Search Operators• When you do a search in EBSCO, you can make your

search more effective and save time by using Boolean search operators

• Boolean search operators connect your terms together to narrow or broaden your search results

• The three basic Boolean search operators are:1. AND

2. OR

3. NOT

Boolean Search Operator: AND• AND search operator tells the database that terms used

with AND must be present in the results

Cupcakes Bacon

Cupcakes AND Bacon

AND Operator• AND helps to narrow search results

• The more terms you AND together, the more precise your search becomes (the less results you’ll get)

• You can AND as many keywords together as you’d like

Cupcakes Bacon

Chocolate

Boolean Search Operator: OR• The OR search operator tells the database to return any

results that have either or both of the terms used with OR

BaconCupcakes

Boolean Searching• Develop a search strategy and perform the search:

• Boolean operators are used to combine search terms. These operators, AND, OR and NOT, are used to broaden or focus search results.

• The AND operator combines search terms so that each result contains all of the terms. For example, kidney AND lung will result in articles that contain both kidney and lung.

• The OR operator combines search terms so that each result contains at least one of the terms. For example, blood OR plasma will result in articles that contain either blood or plasma.

• The NOT operator excludes search terms so that each result will not contain any of the terms that follow it. For example, blood NOT vein will result in articles that contain the term blood, but not the term vein. NOT operators are often used in the form of limits or limiters on a search.

Searching Traps to Avoid• Don’t be “satisficed”

• Natural tendency to want to stop searching as soon as something is found

Finding TOO Much?• Use AND operator for more specifics

• The more ANDs you use, the more specific your search becomes, which whittles down your results

• Use NOT operator to remove unwanted topics• Identify unwanted concepts• Look for more specific keywords to search with• Limit the date range• Limit the language the content is written in

Not Finding ANYTHING?• Use OR operator with synonyms and alternate spellings

on your topic keywords• Remove limits• Look at articles that might be somewhat related—see

what keywords and synonyms they are indexed under and include those in the search