Can you explain the Boolean search terms for me? I always get confused.

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There are three Boolean search terms: AND, NOT, and OR. Below you will see three diagrams explaining each term. When you use them to search online or in a database, they will drastically help your searching. In each diagram, the highlighted pink color represents the information you will receive.

When you use the term AND, it will narrow your search. Imagine a search for dogs. Then imagine a search for cats. There are probably some cats within the dog search. Using AND narrows that information and gives you the section of both dogs AND cats.

and

If you remember from the AND search, there was a section of dogs that had cats in it too. What if I don’t want any of the cats to show up in my dog search. I can use the term NOT, and it will exclude all the cats in the dog search.

not

Now, what if I want all the dogs plus all the cats. This may be accomplished by using the word OR. When you use the word OR, you expand your search and get all the dogs and all the cats.

or

Remember, using the Boolean search terms can really help you in finding information:

  • AND narrows
  • NOT excludes
  • OR expands
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