VT ENGL1106 course template: Searches - Building

Boolean operators are named for George Boole (1815-1864), an English Mathematician and Philosopher.  Boolean Algebra and Symbolic Logic both derive from his work.  Boole is generally considered the father of modern computer science.  Most electronic indexes (databases) require the use of Boolean operators in parsing search terms, although this is not always apparent.  Boolean search statements are incredibly powerful in retrieving what you need provided 1) the statement is formatted correctly and 2) your choice of search terms is correct for the topic you are researching.  

For this assignment, you need to use keywords to look for articles on specific topics.  This is good practice--you can use your time most efficiently by creating good searches to enter into databases.  Most databases work best ify ou enter keywords, rather than entire sentences or questions, into the database.  

Try our new Search Strategy Builder for an even easier way to build keyword searches!  

For example, if your research question was:

Is melatonin treatment effective for children with insomnia?

Then you might create a search that looks something like this:

"melatonin treatment" AND children AND insomnia

If you don't find anything with that search, then you may want to think of adding some synonyms to your search:

"melatonin treatment" AND (children OR youth OR baby) AND (insomnia OR sleep OR sleep disorders)

Read more about developing search strategies here:  http://info-skills.lib.vt.edu/developing_search/index.html

One quick way to find more sources for your research is to utilize bibliographies. Once you find an article that fits your topic, search the article's bibliography for more sources relevant to your topic. Including articles in a bibliography not only credits the sources but also adds importance and credibility to these articles.

Let's say you were researching the glaciers in Nepal and one of your main sources was the journal article "Glacier variations and climate change in the central Himalaya over the past few decades." Searching the bibliography can add other titles to your research. But how do you find these articles? It's very easy!

Rather than typing a full sentence or question into a search box, using Boolean operators can help you create an efficient and effective database search.

Try our new Search Strategy Builder, which will create searches out of keywords that you supply!

In order to use Boolean operators, you need to know:

Boolean operators

• AND: both terms that you connect with AND must be somewhere in the bibliographic record for that record to be retrieved.  AND narrows a search and retrieves fewer articles
• OR: only one of the search terms combined with OR is required for the bibliographic record t5o be retrieved.  OR broadens a search and retrieves more articles
• NOT: excludes a particular subset, category, or term.  NOT requires the presence of one search term and the exclusion of another.

Read more about Boolean searching.

Truncation

A symbol, specific to the search interface, which allows the retrieval of all endings for the specified base word. An asterisk (*) is often used. For example,  child* would retrieve records with children, childish, and every other word that begins with the root word "child."

Wildcard

A symbol, specific to the search interface, which allows the retrieval of various spellings of a word. A questio mark is often used.  For example, wom?n would retrieve records with women or woman.  

Read more about these sorts of tricks

Example Boolean search statements using symbols

• (Calcium AND milk) NOT goat
• child* AND anxiety AND (exercise OR physical activity)

See our tutorial about developing search statements.

Truncation:  A symbol, specific to the search interface, which allows the retrieval of all endings for the specified base word. An asterisk (*) isoften used.  For example, child* would retrieve records with children, childish, and every other word that begins with the root word "child."  

Wildcard:  A symbol, specific to the search interface, which allows the retrieval of various spellings of a word. A questio mark is often used.  For example, wom?n would retrieve records with women or woman.  

Read more about these sorts of tricks here:http://addison.vt.edu/screens/help_index.html#tips

Example Boolean search statements using symbols:

                    (Calcium AND milk) NOT goat

                     child* AND anxiety AND (exercise OR physical activity

If you are searching Google it is very easy to search phrases or questions, such as how does eating local affect the economy? But if you are using the library databases, you will need to use the key terms and a Boolean operator.  The Boolean operators are AND, OR, and Not. The following short video gives a very clear demonstration. If you would like a more hands on activity try the Boolify Project.  This actovoty pertains to Google but the same process can be used in our databases.

Project Boolify allows students to practice working with boolean operators.  Using Boolean operators and adding keywords, students will create actual Google searches to visualize how different operators affect the search.

Project Boolify