Research & Writing

• AND - Combines different topics for FEWER search results
  • Children AND Cognition
• OR - Adds in related keywords for MORE search results 
  • Cognition OR Thinking OR Learning
• NOT - Excludes topics for FEWER search results

  • NOT High School

Example: Children AND (Cognition OR Thinking OR Learning) NOT (Highschool OR Junior High OR Middle School)

For many library databses, topics can be put into different search boxes with synonyms strung together using OR within a topic's search box.

Asterisk: 

• When added to a root word, it searches for all variations of that word
  • Eco* (will search for: Ecologies, Ecological, Ecocriticism, Economy…)

Quotation Marks:

• Searches a specific phrase (handy for searching titles)
  • “Oryx and Crake”