Boolean Online Searching

Boolean is a mathematical way of using words to search for online information. First, keywords are vital - they are synonyms and/or related terms. Since search engines and databases give you what they have based on what they think I want, changing a search words can open up new areas of information not previously recognized.

Boolean operators (and, or, but, and not) expand and narrow my figgy search. Since there bands with 'fig' in their titles [The Fig Band and Fig Dish], I need to include not in my search to exclude those bands from the results I get. However, it I wanted to include as several fig foodie items such as pudding, cakes, and cookies, I would add and between the keywords.

Using a Venn diagram illustrates how operators
include or exclude keywords.

As in algebra, parenthesis group words together so they are searched as a unit first, before the rest of the keywords are sought.

Truncating uses a wildcard to help retrieve variations of the same word. For instance: fig* could result in figs, figgy, figging.