| Operator | Explanation | Example |
|---|---|---|
| AND | Use AND between keywords to search for resources that contain both search terms. | Police AND Social Media |
| OR | Use OR between synonyms or related words to search for resources that contain either term. | Police OR Law Enforcement |
| NOT | Use NOT to eliminate all articles that contain a certain word or phrase | NOT Australia |
| " ... " | Use quotation marks around a string of words to search as a phrase instead of individual words | "social media" |
| * | Add a star (*) to the end of a root word to search for the root word and all possible endings | Canad* = Canada, Canadian, Canadiens |
| ( ) | Use parentheses to group operators. If you are on a database with an advanced search option, you can separate different keywords in different search boxes. If you're using a simple search, use parentheses to differentiate your operators. | (Police OR "Law Enforcement") AND ("Social Media" OR Twitter) AND Canad* NOT Australia |
Narrows your search by searching for resources that contain both terms
Expands your search by looking for resources that contain either search term.
Narrows your search by eliminating all resources that contain a particular search term.