SECTION 3: USING SEARCH ENGINES EFFECTIVELY

BOOLEAN LOGIC: AND/OR

Most search engines let you apply the Boolean AND or OR in one of two ways:

The first option is to simply enter the search term in the "search" box.

The example below is from AltaVista®.

Click here if you want to open a new browser window to AltaVista®. You can also do a "Bookmark" in Netscape® or add it to your "Favorites" in Internet Explorer® if you want to go back to it later: http://www.altavista.com).

We searched for "AZT or Retrovir or zidovudine" using the main search box.

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The second approach is to look for Boolean (AND/OR) options in the Advanced Features section of the search engine.

Not every search engine includes the Boolean AND/OR in its Advanced Features section, so look for the "include all words" (AND) or the "include any words" (OR) options if you don't see a Boolean or AND/OR option listed.

The examples below are also from AltaVista®.

Click here if you want to open a new browser window to AltaVista®. You can also do a "Bookmark" in Netscape® or add it to your "Favorites" in Internet Explorer® if you want to go back to it later: http://www.altavista.com).

First we go to the Advanced Search option. Then we look for Boolean (AND/OR) options that can be incorporated into our search.

Read the Advanced Features section of your favorite search engine to determine whether you can use other Boolean symbols and proximity indicators such as:

ADJ (Adjacency) -- finds phrases, or words that appear next to each other.

NEAR -- Finds terms that are near or within a certain number of words from each other.

NOT -- Eliminates terms. NOT is the same as the "without this word" option.

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