Search Fields

Breaking the search string into pieces

In some database designs you will be provided with drop-down boxes supplying the Boolean Operators [AND, OR, NOT].

When this is the case, you can place any search terms that would normally be included within parentheses in a single line and combine them using OR.

Example

• Research Question: Are there security systems that can help safeguard privacy on the Internet?
• Search String: (security OR encrypt*) AND privacy AND (internet OR net OR web)

In Academic Search Premier it would look like this

This will return the same results as placing the original search string in one search box but may be easier to understand.