Construct Your Search
Related: Research Tips, Research Tips for Nursing
Boolean Operators
Use with the library catalog and research databases. They also work with search engines.
| Operator | Changes Your Search Results | Example |
|---|---|---|
| AND | narrows search | women AND heart disease AND diet |
| OR | expands search | diet OR nutrition |
| NOT | narrows search | diet NOT cookbook |
| * | expands search | prevent* finds prevents, preventing, prevention... |
Too many results? Narrow your search
Use more specific terms to describe what you are looking for:
Use the specific term heart disease, instead of the general term health
Add more terms to your search using AND:
heart disease AND exercise AND diet
Tells the database that you only want items that contain ALL of the terms
Exclude words from your search using NOT:
heart disease AND diet NOT cookbook
Tells the database that you want everything that contains the words heart disease and diet but you don't want anything that contains the word cookbook
Too few results? Broaden your search
Use less specific terms to describe what you are looking for:
Use the broader term heart disease instead of the more specific term arrhythmia
Search for synonyms and related terms using OR:
heart disease OR cardiovascular disease
User fewer keywords:
Stick to the most essential keywords: heart disease
Bad results?
Think of different words to describe your topic
exercise, aerobics, physical fitness, physical activity, activity level, obesity
