SECONDARY: RESEARCH

OR expands a search to include both terms.
Results include one term or the other.
Example: weather OR storms

• If you're not getting enough results, OR finds more for you.

NOT removes terms from a search.
Narrows your search.
Example: weather NOT storms

Red area shows results, any mention of storms (even if weather is present) are removed.

• NOT ignores certain results that you don't want.
• Some use - instead of NOT.

(Parentheses) require terms inside to be searched first.
Similar to BEDMAS (brackets is first letter)
Example: (Canada OR Ontario) AND weather

Purple area shows results, so results are compound search of:

• Canada AND weather
• Ontario AND weather
• Parentheses also known as NESTING

"Quotation marks" search for a series of words two or more words in EXACT ORDER.
Example: "Canadian Shield"
Canadian Shield without quotation marks could find results:

• that mention Canadian
• that mention shield
• as well as those for Canadian Shield

You could end up with results about Canadian money or medieval armour.
Search for song title by entering a few words in quotations.
Quotation eliminate finding root word in larger words

• "challenge" instead of challenged, challenger, challenges, etc.,

Truncation* broadens a search to find multiple endings and/or spellings.
Add an asterisk * to end of root word.
Example: child*

• child
• childs
• children
• childrens
• childhood

Wildcards substitute ? for a letter in word.
The wildcard can subsitute 0 or 1 character.
Helpful when spelling might be different.
Example: colo?r

• color, colour

Example: wom?n

• woman, women, womyn