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ENGL 1B - Spring 2024: Prof. Gerard: Research Basics

Boolean Operators/Combination Searching

Boolean operators help you with searching in our database. I have 3 of them below with examples. Remember to keep your search terms simple to just the keywords that relate to the subject of your research and you should be able to find good articles for your assignment.

Quotation Marks: To search multiple worded search terms together.
       "Monterey Peninsula College" 
       "Lost Generation" 
       "The Sun Also Rises"

AND: To tell the database that these search terms must appear in your results and to help you narrow your search.
       "Isabelle Allende" AND "Magic Realism"
        "Cannery Row" AND criticism
       "Kurt Vonnegut" AND "World War II" AND influence

OR: When you want to search for either term and help expand your search. (parenthesis in the example are optional)
       ("Grapes of Wrath" OR "In Dubious Battle") and symbolism
       "Lost Generation" AND (Hemingway OR Fitzgerald)

 

Prezi from Library Presentation in Class

Research Basics-Getting Started

Research basics for Professor Gerard's English 1B Class. This video covers topics, resources, brainstorming, and Boolean operators and gets you ready for searching the library databases.