Phrase search
Use " " to keep two or more words together as a phrase
- "plastic water bottle"
- "assault rifles"
- "gun control laws"
- professional athletes"
- "minimum wage"
Truncation "*", "?", "#"
Each database may use different symbols. To search variation of words that share the same root word and have similar meanings
- child* - child, children, childless, childbirth, childbirths, childish, childbearing, childbearing, childlike, childless, childlessness...
- comput* - computer, computers, computation, computational, computerize, computerizing, computerized, compute, computing, computed...
- student* - student, students
- wom?n - women, woman
Boolean Operators
Use connectors to specify your search restrictions and requirements. Write connectors in caps.
AND
- Arts AND school* AND fund*
- "flu shots" AND "college students" AND mandatory
- Cheer AND sport*
OR
- female* OR lad* OR wom?n OR girl*
- GMO OR "Genetically modified organism"
- micronutritional OR "micro nutritional" OR micronutients
- NFL OR "National Football League"
NOT
- "health insurance" NOT (auto OR car)
- (Hillary AND Clinton) NOT Bill
- ("Hillary Clinton" OR "Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton") NOT "Bill Clinton"
Search Is Not Case Sensitive
Bill Clinton=bill clinton
John Smith=john smith
Bill Gates=bill gates