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LBS 4890 - Researching & Writing the Senior Project

Boolean Searching

Advanced Search Techniques

Truncation


Search any form of a word by taking the root of the word and adding an asterix.

Example:  fem* will search female, females, feminist, feminists, feminism, etc.

Example: music* will search music, musician, musicology, etc

 

Boolean Operators AND, OR,

 

Narrow your search using AND in between each of your keywords to find articles with all of your keywords included. The more keywords you search using AND, the fewer results you will have.

Example: gender roles and afrofuturism and science fiction

Example: Flint Michigan and water crisis

Example: gangsta rap and crime and race and identity

 

Broaden your search using OR in between each of your keywords to find articles with any of your keywords included.  Use OR when you are searching synonyms/ similar/ related terms. The more keywords you search using OR, the more results you will have.

Example:  gender roles or sex roles

Example: EDM or "electronic dance music"

 

Phrase Searching


Putting quotes around your keywords allows you to search these terms as a phrase.

Example:  "Latin jazz"

Example: "Red Hot Chili Peppers"

Example: "No Child Left Behind"

Example: "Culturally relevant pedagogy"

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