Page 2 is a quick guide to boolean operators, traditional vs natural language keywords and truncation.
Boolean operators are words that are used to combine search terms that help refine or widen search results in a database.
There are 3 main Boolean operators:
AND: Use AND when you want to ensure keyword 1 AND keyword 2 are included in your search query.
Going back to our Credo Avocado reference, you might try "Avocados" AND "California" if you are looking to find out about avocado consumption or growth in California specifically, as opposed to growth and consumption trends of avocados in Mexico.
OR: Use OR when keyword 1 OR keyword 2 will suffice for your search query.
There are resources from many places around the globe, so you might miss out on resources if you don't include the OR Boolean. In the case of our avocado research, California and Florida used to call the avocado the alligator pear, so you can search "Avocado" OR "Alligator Pear", and results showing both will be queried.
NOT: Use NOT when excluding a specific keyword or search term that might be related, but you do not want information on that keyword. An example of our avocado research might look like "Avocado" NOT "Guacamole", this will effectively filter out any results that have to do with guacamole.
Boolean operators graphic was found on Pressreader, "Boolean Search Essentials: Operators and Strategies" (2024)
Truncation is a way to broaden the search results that you query in a database without having to input the ending letters of a word. Truncation works for words that have the same root word, but a different suffix, or ending. One simple example is Educate. Educate, the root word, can turn into many different words, but it would be difficult to search "educate" AND "education" AND "educational" and "educator", so use truncation by adding an asterisk(*) at the end of the root word to make it an easier search.
Educat*
Allows Educator, Education, Educated, Educational and more.
Graphic from Megan G, TAMU-SA Librarian.