Contents

2. Contents • Boolean Logic • Truncation • Phrase Searching

3. the THEORY Boolean Logic • Boolean logic allows users to combine search terms. • Boolean logic allows users to both expand or limit their search.

4. the THEORY Boolean Logic • This is achieved by using Boolean operators AND, OR andNOT (always in caps), to link the search terms in searches. • Boolean logic is used in many computer applications including search engines, web directories, databases and some CD ROMS.

5. the THEORY Boolean Logic • An example will explain how the operators (or link words) work to limit or expand your search. • The question for this search is: How are students affected by computers?

6. the THEORY Boolean Logic • First it is necessary to isolate the major words from the question to use as search terms. • These terms are referred to as keywords. E.g. The keywords from this example are STUDENTSandCOMPUTERS.

7. the THEORY Boolean Logic • The first operator (or link word) to investigate is OR. • How will it affect the search on students and computers? • Will the search expand or will OR limit the search?

8. Using OR Boolean Logic When you use the OR operator in “students OR computers” the documents retrieved have either of the keywords in them. OR highest retrieval students & computers

9. Using NOT Boolean Logic • The second operator (or link word) to investigate is NOT. • How will it affect the search on STUDENTSandCOMPUTERS?

10. Using NOT Boolean Logic When you use the NOT operator in“students NOT computers”the items retrieved refer to students only. NOT Pages contain one but not the other term students

11. Using AND Boolean Logic • The third operator (or link word) to investigate is AND. • How will it affect the search on STUDENTSandCOMPUTERS?

12. Using AND Boolean Logic When you use the AND operator in “students AND computers” only items containing references to both students and computers are retrieved. AND narrows the search students & computers

13. GOOGLE TIP Boolean Logic • Some search engines have additional boxes or links which allow you to further narrow the results of your search. • Google has a search within results link at the bottom of their results page. E.g. - search students AND computers - click on search within results - type in effects and press enter Try this: http://www.google.com/

14. Search HINTS Boolean Logic • Some search engines and databases require users to click on Advanced Search to use Boolean searching. • Individual engines and directories use different Boolean operators. • The examples of how different engines use Boolean logic will explain this further.

15. Using DirectHit Boolean Logic – Basic Search With Boolean searching on DirectHit: • the+ (plus) symbol is used instead of AND. Place immediately before all terms to be included in the search.E.g. +animals +endangered • the - (minus) symbol is used instead of NOT. Place immediately before all terms to be excluded. E.g. +animals –mammals • the OR is not available. Try it : http://www.directhit.com/

16. Using GOOGLE Boolean Logic – Basic Search With Boolean searching on Google: • theAND is implied. Type in all terms to be included in the search. E.g.animals endangered • the - (minus) symbol is used instead of NOT. Place immediately before all terms to be excluded. E.g.animals –mammals • the OR operator (in capitals) is placed between terms. E.g.astronomy OR planets Try it : http://www.google.com/

17. Using AllTheWeb Boolean Logic – Basic Search With Boolean searching on AllTheWeb: • + (plus) is used instead of AND. Place immediately before all terms to be included in the search.E.g.+animals +endangered • - (minus) is used instead of NOT. Place immediately before all terms to be excluded. E.g.+animals –mammals • () (parentheses) are used instead of OR. Place all terms in parentheses. E.g.(astronomy planets) Try it : http://www.alltheweb.com/

18. Search HINTS Truncation • Truncation is a tool which can broaden a search. • Users enter part of a word in order to ensure retrieval of all documents containing variations of the word. • Not all search engines allow truncation. • Try the next example using Yahoo.

19. Using YAHOO Truncation Tool to broaden searches: • Right hand truncation with* • Typesight* • You will retrieve documents with sights, sightseeing, sighted etc. Try it : http://www.yahoo.com/

20. Using IXQUICK Truncation • Internal “wild-card” truncation with * • Type colo*r • You will retrieve documents containing both colour and color. Try it : http://www.ixquick.com/

21. SEARCH HINTS Phrase Searching • Phrase searching offers another tool which will contribute to a successful search on the Internet. • Try the following examples:

22. Using GOOGLE Phrase Searching • Enclose terms to be searched as a phrase in quotes “The Gettysburg Address” “The Battle of Trenton” • The phrase will be retrieved exactly as keyed in. Try it:http://www.google.com/

23. Works Cited Barlow, Linda. “How Search Engines Work.” The Spider’s Apprentice: A Helpful Guide to Web Search Engines.”22 Sept. 2001. Monash Information Services. 4 Oct. 2001 <http://www. monash.com/spidap4.html>. Henninger, M. Don’t Just Surf. Effective Research Strategies for the Net.Sydney:U of New South Wales, 1999. Tyner, Ross. “Internet Search Tools and Techniques.” Electronic Information Literacy: Library and Internet Research. 25 Aug. 2000. Okanagan U Coll. 4 Oct. 2001 <http://www.ouc.bc.ca/ library/eil/research/internet3.html>.

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