Boolean refers to a symbolic logic system invented by a French mathematician, George Boole, in the 19th Century, which has been appropriated by researchers. It is simply a set of words and symbols for a searcher to use to create a specific search phrase. The 4 most common connectors are and, or, not, and near. Note: these examples are generic in nature. When you are in a search engine or searchable database like First Search, you may have to use symbols in place of the words or choose them from drop-down windows. Get to know your favorite search engines and find out how their searches work by using their HELP areas.

Example: you want all information about both anorexia and bulemia. In the search phrase you will type:

Results: all articles or websites will contain both these words, not necessarily together, but they will appear somewhere in the text.

Example: you want all information about either anorexia or bulemia. In the search phrase you will type:

Results: all articles or websites will contain one or both of these words.

The or search will result in the most hits (articles that match your search); the and search will result in fewer as you have limited the possibilities.

Example: you want information about the Protestant reformer, Martin Luther, but you know that you might also get information on the civil rights leader, Martin Luther King. So you will type:

Results: all your information will contain the name Martin Luther (there might be some modern ones out there), but nothing about Martin Luther King.

Example: Some search engines and databases will let you search for words that are close together, within so many words of each other, or within the same paragraph. This is like an and search but with limits. Type:

Results: Depending on the search engine or database you are in, your search matches will only contain information where these words are within 10, 25, or more words of each other, or in the same paragraph. Look around in your search engine to find out more.

Example: Not truly a Boolean search, but if you are looking for a very specific multiple word phrase and these words must come right next to each other, use quotation marks to indicate exact phrase. Type:

Results: without the quotation marks you would get all sites/any information containing three, gorges, and dam. With the quotation marks, you may not get anything, but what you do get will be specifically about the Three Gorges Dam. Be careful with this one; if you don't get results, try one of the Boolean connectors.  This one is my favorite method.

Example: Truncation is used when you are unsure of a spelling or you want to capture any form of a word. The most common truncation symbol is: * (the asterisk). Type:

Results: You will get any item which contains child, children, child's.

Results: any item which contains women or woman.

Caveat: this is not intended to make you an expert in Boolean searches. This hardly even scratches the surface. Be aware that there are much more complex tools for you to use. If you are interested in going farther, visit your nearest information specialist (librarian or researcher) to find out more. Also, there are sites on the Web that will tutor you further. Look for your own or try one of these: