| Understanding the use of these simple words in
searching databases, Internet search engines or library catalogs will save
you more time than just about anything else. |
|
 In the diagrams below,
the pink area represents the search results. |
AND
AND is the best way to narrow down your search.
Example: media and politics
instead of looking through tons of stuff on media and
then even more stuff on politics, you can limit your results to only those
articles which deal with both media and politics. |
media and politics
|
OR
Use OR to search for articles which contain any of your
search terms.
Example: ad or advertise
OR is often used to broaden a search by linking together
a number of synonyms. |
ad or advertise
|
NOT
Use NOT to search for articles which contain one word, but
not the other word.
Example: race not horse race
In this example, you would retrieve information on all
types of abuse except for child abuse. |
race not horse race
|
More than two search terms
Note that more than two search terms can be linked with
the connectors AND, OR, NOT.
Example: media and politics and bias
In this example you would retrieve all records which
contain all three words. |
media and politics and bias
|
Nest your ORs
In complex searches use parentheses to nest similar search
terms linked by OR.
Example: ethics and (computers or internet)
Retrieves all entries which contain the words "ethics"
and
"computers" plus all entries which contain the words "ethics"
and
"internet".
(Like two AND searches for the price of one!) |
ethics and (computers or internet)
|
What happens if you don't use a nest?
If you don't nest, you will get stuck with a huge list of
records that have nothing to do with your topic.
Example: ethics and computers or internet
Without the parentheses, this search retrieves
all records which have both the words "ethics" and "computers," in addition
to every single record about the Internet.
(i.e. a lot of stuff that has nothing to do with ethics) |
ethics and computers or internet
|
Another way to think about nesting is to consider some basic arithmetic
concepts.
-
10+3-10+8=11
-
(10+3)-(10+8)=-5
Without parentheses, equations are worked left to right. If you'll recall,
actions within the parentheses are done first, even if they come later
in the equation. Likewise, the parenthetical nest (A or B or C) keeps your
synonymous search terms together in one bundle.
MU
Journalism Library's Main Page
|
