FirstSearch:  An Online Introduction

Boolean Searching:  Using And, Or, and Not

Boolean logic allows more sophisticated and precise searching.

Boolean searching is the use of an "operator" to link terms together in a logical manner.

The operators used in FirstSearch searching are "and," "or" and "not."

Boolean Diagrams

Pretend we are searching a database that only contains articles about Apples and Bananas.
These diagrams will show how And, Or, and Not will help us retrieve the articles we want.
The Apples articles are in the A circle, and the Bananas articles are in the B circle.
The articles that deal with both Apples and Bananas are in the space where the circles overlap.

Subjects Apples and Bananas overlap

And

If we want to retrieve only articles about both Apples AND Bananas, we use the operator AND.
Those articles that contain both terms would be in the yellow shaded area below.

Apples AND Bananas

FirstSearch Examples

Hints:    If we enter 2 words to search without AND between them, FirstSearch treats them like they have AND.
              And, or, and not don't have to be capitalized.

If you want to search for a phrase, like GLOBAL WARMING, type the letter W between the words.
  

OR

If we want to retrieve articles about either Apples OR Bananas, we use the operator OR.
As you see in the diagram below, that would be all the articles in both circles.

Apples OR Bananas

FirstSearch Examples

NOT

If we want to retrieve articles about Apples but NOT articles about Bananas, we use the operator NOT.
Those articles are shaded yellow below.

Apples NOT Bananas

FirstSearch Examples

Next we'll learn about the Browse Index feature.

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