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Lloyd Sealy Library
John Jay College of Criminal Justice

Library Basics: Boolean Searches

A quick overview of the Library: The physical space, off-campus resources, research tips, and more

Boolean Searches

Boolean searches offer an easy and effective way to improve your research results, using the words AND, OR, and NOT

AND

This operator narrows the search by connecting two terms. For example, searching for "social media" AND Instagram will yield results that discuss social media in general and Instagram specifically.

OR

This operator broadens the search by retrieving results that contain one term, the other, or both. For instance, a search using TikTok OR Instagram will find sources that mention either TikTok, Instagram, or both.

NOT

This operator narrows the search by excluding the term that follows it. For example, searching for "social media" NOT Facebook will show results that discuss all kinds of social media platforms, except for Facebook.

To visualize these searches, use the Boolean Machine