Boolean operators:
AND - use to narrow a search and get fewer and more relevant results.
elections and voters
OR - use to broaden a search and get more results. Good for synonyms and words with variant spellings. Add parentheses when using OR.
("latin america" or argentina or colombia)
(organization or organisation)
NOT - use to narrow a search to get more relevant results
mexico not "new mexico"
Truncation:
Use to find words with different word endings. Most databases use an asterisk (*)
e.g. immigrant* yields immigrant, immigrants
e.g. immigra* yields immigrant, immigrants, immigrate, immigration, immigrating, etc.
Proximity search:
Use to find words that are close to each other on a page.
It is one way to find more relevant results.
Each family of databases has its own command words.
EBSCO:
n# = words near another word in any order, within a certain number
fundamental* n3 islam*
Factiva:
near# = words near another word in any order, within a certain number
president* near3 speech
HeinOnline
~# = words near each other in any order, within a certain number
"watershed planning"~10
Nexis Uni:
w/#=words within a specified number of words, in any order
"human rights" w/2 violations
w/s = words within the same sentence
crime w/s (dc or "district of columbia")
w/p = words within the same paragraph
gays w/p military
Ovid:
adj# = words near another word in any order, within a certain number
ProQuest:
near/# = words near another word in any order, within a certain number
"renewable energy" near/5 viable
Scopus
w/# = words near another word in any order, within a certain number
Web of Science:
near/# = words near another word in any order, within a certain number
government near/3 fund*
