Search Tips

There are three basic strategies for searching. You can use these strategies in the library catalog, in any of the databases, or even when searching online in Google. These strategies, also called Boolean searching, depend on three basic terms: AND, OR, and NOT. More about Boolean searching: http://www.internettutorials.net/boolean.html

Too Many Results?

If you have too many search results, and/or the results aren't relevant enough, add search terms using "AND."

• example: baseball AND rangers
  • returns only items containing both "baseball" and "rangers"
  • This helps when you want information on a very specific topic: in this case, information about the Texas Rangers baseball team.

Too Few Results?

If you don't have enough results, add search terms using "OR."

• example: baseball OR MLB
  • returns anything with "baseball"
  • returns anything with "MLB"
  • This would help if you're looking for information about baseball, when the term "baseball" isn't always included in each article or book.

Need to Exclude Something?

What if one of the search terms you're using is returning irrelevant results? You can exclude certain terms that will make your search more relevant.

• example: rangers NOT baseball
  • returns anything with "rangers" in it that does not include "baseball"
  • This would help if you wanted items about the historic Texas Rangers (lawmen), not information about the baseball team.