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ANTH 4800: Anthropological Methods and Techniques

Boolean Search Tutorial from Western University

Advanced Search Techniques

Truncation


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

Example:  learn* will search learn, learner, learners, learning, etc.

 

Boolian 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 marriage

 

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

Phrase Searching

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

Example: "No child left behind"

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