INTRODUCTION TO BASIC BOOLEAN SEARCH AND TRUNCATION METHODS

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INTRODUCTION TO BASIC BOOLEAN SEARCH AND
TRUNCATION METHODS

• Paul Tremblay, Reference Librarian
• Office [phone]
• Email Paul.tremblay_at_liu.edu
• Reference Desk [phone]

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For this presentation/tutorial, I will use the
Advanced Search module of Cambridge Scientific
Abstract (CSA) you will find similar modules in
other databases
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Key concepts

• Keywords
• Boolean Search
• Operators Truncations
• Citations Abstract
• Full-Text

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The quick guide

• Keywords words identifying the concepts of your
  research
• Boolean Operators words combining the keywords
• Truncations a truncation mark is a symbol added
  to the stem of a word in order to search all
  forms of the word
• Citations the basic information of a record
  (Author, title of the article, title of the
  periodical, date, page)
• Abstract a summary of the article (anything from
  10 words to a few hundreds)

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KEYWORDS

• Keywords are words or concepts extracted from
  your topic (subject of research)
• They are unique and related to the field being
  investigated.
• Do not forget that you are dealing with a
  computer, not a human being! Do not write a full
  sentence, just words (including synonyms) unique
  to your topic.

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BOOLEAN OPERATORS

• A Boolean Search is a computerized search using
  operators
• They are words by which search terms (keywords)
  are combined
• The operators may be used to expand or narrow a
  search
• Most widely used are
• OR
• AND
• NOT
• (By default, Google will and your terms)

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TRUNCATION

• The truncation mark is usually an , an
  asterisk.
• It tells the software that you wish to obtain ALL
  possible terminations.
• Teen will retrieve teen, teens,
  teenager It is compatible with all
  computerized search (online or CD). Google and
  other search engines recognize it

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The Concepts of a Search

• KEYWORDS
• Lets try a topic lets squeeze words out of a
  project

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EXAMPLE

• TOPIC The positive (or negative) effects of
  inclusion in children in high schools.
• Strategy identify the concepts, here called
  KEYWORDS
• inclusion
• children
• High school
• effects?

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What do Operators do?

• AND
• Child AND juvenile
• All articles or records with BOTH terms in them
  (narrows the search)

• OR
• child OR juvenile
• All articles with EITHER or BOTH terms (broadens
  the search)

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However, (Child OR juvenile) should yield ALL
records with Child alone, with Juvenile alone,
and the records with both terms.
If I search for (Child AND juvenile), the result
should be all records with BOTH terms in them.
C
C
J
J
My results
My results
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In a nutshell

• You input the terms or concepts you absolutely
  want to search
• You combine them with AND (for instance abortion
  AND teen)
• You use OR to combine alternative terminologies
  or analogous terms (Teen OR adolescent OR young
  adult)

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When to use NOT

• You use NOT to exclude unwanted results
• For example, you are researching for records
  about Martin Luther, the religious reformer.
• However, chances are that you will end up with a
  lot of legitimate records about Martin Luther
  King. One of the strategies is to search for the
  following
• Martin AND Luther NOT King

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Enough about Boolean stuff!Lets go back to our
search hereSEARCH

• inclusion AND high schools AND (child OR
  juvenile)

The parenthesis strategy is called nesting.
Usually a guided search will perform this for
you automatically.
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POP QUIZ!Before going any furtherWhy did we
add an asterisk to child?

• Just testing your memory here
• Remember that the asterisk is called a
  truncation mark. It tells the software that you
  wish to obtain ALL possible terminations.
• In other words

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This is what Child will search

• Child

Child
Childish
Children
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Lets input the search terms
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How did we formulate the search?

• We did use the AND and OR operators
• A CSA Advanced Search interface, though, did
  the job for us
• It displayed the ANDs and the ORs all you have
  to do is include the search terms
• Most databases Advanced Search option will
  allow you to do so. If not, you have to nest
  the terms

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The ORs are aligned horizontally. The ANDs are on
a different row. The most common mistakes include
confusing the AND and OR. Do not input Inclusion
OR high school, for instance.
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Click on Search, and here are the results, in
short format
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What you will obtain, hopefully, are citations
along with abstracts your search terms are
bolded.
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READ THE ABSTRACT!Tells you more about an
article than just reading the title.

• The abstract is a summary of the article
  (anything from 10 to 200 words).
• The abstract will help you assess if the article
  is relevant to your search/topic.
• In order to retrieve the full-text of the article
  (if not readily available), please refer to the
  appropriate tutorial available off our webpage or
  call your instructor

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A few good tips about OR

• Do not forget OR combines similar terms
• So
• Use Alternative Terminology
• Option A, refer to a printed Thesaurus
• Option B, Use the online Thesaurus (not always
  available in all databases in CSA, click on
  Search Tools)

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Click on Thesaurus
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For instance you are looking for English as
Second Language. Type in ESOL, click on
hierarchy (will provide you with broader and
narrower terms)
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The point of this exercise is for the database to
provide you with a listing of alternative
terminology

• ESOL or ESL or English (Second Language)
• Another example for a simple search using
  alternative terminology (or synonyms)
• ELL or English Language Learner
• You may attempt
• (ELL or English Language Learner or ESOL) and
  SAT

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OR works with acronyms as well. You are
searching for SAT, for instance?

• Try the full phrase
• SAT or Scholastic Assessment Test or Scholastic
  Aptitude Test (one being the new version and the
  other the old version)

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We hope this tutorial helped you

• Should you have any questions, comments,
  complaints, etc., do not hesitate to call or
  email us at the library.

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Our contact numbers are on the library webpage.
List of phone numbers
You may also email or chat with us!
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Have a great semester!