BETTER SEARCH STRATEGIES & BOOLEAN OPERATORSYour search is only as good as your descriptors. Descriptors are the words that you use to do your searches. A thesaurus can give you a variety of words to use in your search. The library also has The Contemporary Thesaurus of Search Terms and Synonyms which is really helpful expanding your key words. How you put your descriptors together is also important. Boolean logic will help.
English mathematician George Boole (1815-64) founded a field of mathematical and philosophical study called symbolic logic. His name is now used most often to describe a subset of symbolic logic: constructing database queries. Whenever you see a Web search tool or database query system that allows you to use AND, OR, and NOT to hone your search, the chances are it uses Boolean techniques. The most common Boolean operators are AND (you're looking for all terms), OR (you're looking for at least one of the terms), and NOT (you're excluding a term). You'll always see the operators referred to in uppercase letters.
The Boolean MachineElectronic Searching Using Boolean LogicWEBSITE EVALUATION1. Thinking About What We've Found
Mankato, Minnesota Home Page2. Purpose-What is it trying to do? Why was it created?
Warning Signs in the URL of Personal Web Pages
/users/
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//pubweb.
www.geocitieswww.angelfire
3.Author- The next step in validation involves the site's author.
ProfusionRESEARCH ORGANIZATIONThe Big6 Assignment Organizer