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Searching with Boolean Operators
(D Jul 30,2025 Knowledge
Language
Boolean logic defines logical relationships between terms in a search. The Boolean search operators
are AND, OR and NOT. You can use these operators to create a very broad or very narrow search.
• AND combines search terms so that each search result contains all of the terms. For example,
travel AND Europe finds articles that contain both travel and Europe.
• OR combines search terms so that each search result contains at least one of the terms. For
example, college OR university finds results that contain eithercollege or university.
• NOTexcludes terms so that each search result does not contain any of the terms that follow it. For
example, television NOT cable finds results that contain television but not cable.
Notes:
• When executing a search,AND takes precedence over OR.
• Your library administrator may require Boolean Operators to be capitalized (AND, OR, NOT). When
this setting is enabled, the search engine will only interpret the words AND, OR, and NOT as
Boolean operators when they are capitalized. Otherwise, they are treated as regular words.
Please see: How can I ensure that searches that include unintended Boolean operators will return
the appropriate results?(https://connect.ebsco.com/s/article/How-can-I-ensure-that-searches-that-
include-unintended-Boolean-operators-will-return-the-appropriate-results),for more information.
The following table illustrates the operation of Boolean terms:
AND OR NOT
Each result contains all Each result contains at least Results do not contain the
search terms. one search term. specified terms.
The search heartAND lung The search heartOR lungfinds The search heart NOT lung
finds items that contain both items that contain either heart finds items that contain heart
heartand lung. or items that contain lung. but do not contain lung.
When a single Search box is displayed,you can enter search terms, and combine with AND, OR, and
NOT. (For example, Roosevelt NOT Franklin.)
Searc'h artides,, hooks,,, journals, ore,
a,r6l Ultinune, Advi"triterd sctairch
SCuIrChing!, Acadarn t 5 e 4
Roosevelt NOT Frankfins 0 Q,
0 nf,i n e F uI I I X t Pee''r Reviewed Al I tine
When Guided-Style Search boxes are displayed,you can enter search terms in each Search box, and
select AND, OR, and NOT from the Boolean drop-down lists.
Search artlideS, bookS, jouri-MJS & more
Searchiriq,,' Academic miarC',
III U I t'irnina- Sasicsearch
Roosevel t A I I f'I''e;I d's
NOT F rav n k 11"i I I A I I J"i en,I ds
01Rx Theodore All fiel'ds
...............
0- Add herlds.
With longer search strings,you can combine many terms in a search with the AND operator,which will
narrow your search results. For example, heart AND lung AND bypass AND artery will provide a
more focused search than heart AND lung OR bypass OR artery.
To make even better use of Boolean operators,you can enclose search terms and their operators in
parentheses to specify the order in which they are interpreted. Information within parentheses is
read first, and then information outside parentheses is read next. For example, (heart OR lung)AND
bypass will return different results than heart OR lung AND bypass.
Using Booleans and Parentheses
To make even better use of Boolean operators,you can use parentheses to nest query terms within
other query terms.
You can enclose search terms and their operators in parentheses to specify the order in which they
are interpreted. Information within parentheses is read first, then information outside parentheses is
read next For example,
When you enter(mouse OR rat)AND trap, the search engine retrieves results containing the word
mouse or the word rat together with the word trap in the fields searched by default.
If there are nested parentheses,the search engine processes the innermost parenthetical expression
first, then the next, and so on until the entire query has been interpreted. For example,
((mouse OR rat)AND trap) OR mousetrap
If the Boolean queries do not include parentheses, mouse OR rat AND trap NOT mousetrap,the
search engine will follow an order of operations like in math where AND and NOT are considered
multiplication and are processed first, followed by the OR clause which is addition. Effectively,the
search engine processes mouse OR rat AND trap NOT mousetrap as though the query has
parentheses in the following places: mouse OR((rat AND trap) NOT mousetrap)
Using Booleans When Phrase Searching
When Boolean operators are contained within a phrase that is enclosed in quotation marks, the
operator is treated as a stop word. When this is the case, any single word will be searched for in its
place.
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