ASU Libraries

Search Strategies
Analyzing an assignment topic
Creating an initial search strategy
Brainstorming for keywords
Keyword searching
Keyword search tools
Boolean connector – AND
Boolean connector – OR
Boolean connector – NOT
Nesting
Truncation
Creating and using a search strategy

Keyword search tools: Boolean connectors, nesting and truncation.

A great advantage of keyword searching is the ability to combine more than one keyword in a search. To do this effectively, there are a number of techniques that need to be understood and used.

AND, OR, and NOT are the three connectors, known as Boolean operators, used to join two or more keywords, because computers cannot interpret natural language.

Nesting and truncation are techniques used to enhance keyword searching.

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