Performing a Boolean Search using Google and Google Scholar

Estimated Duration: 30 minutes

Upon completion of this lesson, the student will know how to perform an advanced Boolean search on
Google and Google Scholar.
4.1) Introduction and Review
4.2) What are Boolean Operators?
4.3) Step-by-step Boolean search simulation with Google
4.4) Activity
Learner practice

4.1) Introduction and Review

Audio / Narration

On Screen Description / Text / etc.

4.1.1

Welcome to lesson 4. This lesson will introduce you

to advanced Boolean searching. Boolean
searching is a technique used to obtain precise
search results.

Inspiration image that is in keeping

with our look and feel. Ideas?

At the end of this lesson, you should understand the

purpose and applications of Boolean searches, and
how Boolean searches relate to online information
literacy.
The term Boolean refers to 19th century English
mathematician George Boole. Boole made huge
contributions to the study of applied mathematics,
much of which developed into what we now call
computer science. Boolean denotes a system of
algebraic notations used to represent logical
propositions, especially in computing and
electronics. In terms of search engines, Boolean
searches create algorithms within the search
parameters which give Google precise instructions
on what information to look for.
Boolean searches use what we call operators, or
commands, to narrow down searches to include or
exclude terms, sources, dates and more.

Text: What does Boolean mean?

Example of search done with and

without Boolean operators.

Then pan to the article text and radio

button and then the case law one.

Boolean operators are simple words (AND, OR,

NOT, or AND NOT) used as conjunctions to cobmine
or exclude keywords in a search, resulting in more
focused and productive results. This should save
time and effort by eliminating inappropriate
hits/results that must be scanned before discarding.

Show Google.com About page:

https://www.google.com/intl/en/about
/

You should be familiar with the difference between

Google and Google Scholar.
Google Scholar focuses on the scholarly literature
available on the Internet. This includes articles,
theses, books, abstracts, U.S. court opinions, and
patents found on the websites of academic
publishers, professional societies, online
repositories, universities, and more. By scholarly
literature, Google means publications that are
based on the results of research or studies.
Google, on the other hand, has a broader scope,
and is looking for resources regardless of where
they come from. Resources in a Google search do
not have to be scholarly, and do not have to be
based on research.
You will have the opportunity to learn and practice
with Google in this lesson. Remember, all concepts
can be applied to both Google and Google Scholar.

4.2) What are Boolean Operators?

Audio / Narration

4.2.1

Google and Google Scholar can use Boolean

operators to connect and define the relationship
between your search terms. When searching
electronic databases, you can use Boolean operators
to either narrow or broaden your record sets. This
helps produce more focused and productive results.
Boolean operators combine keywords with operators
such as AND, OR, NOT/AND NOT, and parentheses
to further produce more relevant results. There are
five basic Boolean operators that we will explore in

On Screen Description / Text / etc

Images of operators/animation that
makes the operators appear when
mentioned in the narrative.
Image of George Boole

more detail through a search simulation with both

Google and Google Scholar: AND (+), OR,
NOT/AND NOT (-), exact phrase searching (), and
nesting [()].

4.3) Step-by-step Boolean search simulation with Google

Audio / Narration

On Screen Description / Text / etc

4.3.1

First, lets see a typical Google search without

utilizing Boolean operators.

Title: Without Boolean Operators

Step 1: To perform a basic search on Google, you

first type in the word or phrase you would like to
search in the search bar and click the hourglass
button (the search button). For example, feeding
habits of giraffes.

(Google_search_magnifying_glass.pn
g)
Screencast OR text on screen with
1.2.3 steps

Step 2: Next, your results will appear on the page.

Browse your options by scrolling to see all of
them. If you dont see anything that matches what
you want on the first page, you can scroll all the
way down to the bottom of the page and click
next to be brought to the next list of options.
Step 3: Choose the option that best suits you.
Keep in mind that evaluation criteria will be
covered later in the training. Once you click on an
option, you will be brought to a new web page. To
be brought back to the search page, click the left
arrow on the top left-hand screen of your browser.
If no option fits your needs or you want to refine
your search, this is where Boolean operators
come in handy. You can go back to step 1 and
narrow search using one or more of the following
Boolean operators.
Venn diagrams(Cats_dogs_venn.png)
4.3.2

So, how can you make Google work better for you
when youre searching using Boolean operators?
Here are a few tips and tricks to get you started.

Title: Boolean Operator: AND

Lets say were doing research on the impact of

multiracial people & culture in America. Were just
getting started, so well type multiracial into the
Google search box.
Notice that we are getting all kinds of results using
this search from Wikipedia, to a site called
blackflix.com, to even some government
websites thrown in there. We can do better. Lets
try adding some keywords to narrow our search
Ill try multiracial AND culture.
When you type multiple words into the search box,
Google will look ONLY for those results that have
ALL of your keywords. In fact, Google does this by
default so you dont even have to type AND if
you dont want to. Google also allows using a +
in place of AND.

(Mulitracial_search_results.png)

Demo of search results for each

search
(Multiracial_AND__culture_search_re
sults.png)

Even just adding one keyword has given us way

fewer results (even though there are probably still
more than we want). You can keep experimenting
with different keywords in different combinations to
see how Google will work for you.
4.3.3

You can also broaden your search by asking

Google to look for synonyms or related ideas
using the word OR. Instead of just multiracial,
Ill try looking for multiracial OR biracial.
Now, lets add culture to the mix. This search will
find anything that has either the word multiracial
OR biracial (or both) AND also culture. Notice
that by adding this alternate term, we have cast a
wider net and so we are getting more results than
our last search.

Image of search results for each

search

(Multiracial_AND_OR_search_results.
png)

Google also allows the use of ~ to search for

synonyms. For example, searching for ~multiracial
will produce results that include any/all synonyms
related to our multiracial search term.
4.3.4

Next, you can use Boolean operators to search for

more complicated words and phrases using
quotation marks to conduct a phrase search.
Lets try using the specific phrase multicultural
identity in our search this time.

Image of search results for each

search

This search found results that have the both the

word culture AND the exact phrase multiracial
identity it will not find instances of the word
multiracial in one part of the website, and the
word identity somewhere else! This is a handy
search for compound words, names, or phrases,
but remember that once you put quotation marks
around it, Google will look for that EXACT string of
letters it will not find misspellings of that phrase
for you, like it usually would in other searches. So
when using phrase search, make sure you double
check your spelling!
4.3.5

You can also use the AND NOT/NOT Boolean

operator (depending on the coding of the
database search engine) to exclude documents
containing whatever follows it. Google uses NOT
represented by a - sign. It is generally used after
you have performed a search, looked at the
results, and determine that you do not want ot see
pages containing some word or phrase.
Remember, we will cover evaluating results in the
next lesson. It should be used with extreme
caution because it eliminates entire pages, and
some pages may be of value to you for other
information they contain.

Image of search results for each

search

For example, a search of multiracial biracialexcludes any documents with the word
biracial.
4.3.6

Finally, you can use parentheses () to enclose or

nest search strategies that will customize your
results to more accurately reflect your topic.
Google and Google Scholar will deal with search
statements within the parentheses first, then apply
any statements that are not enclosed. Lets try
searching (multiracial and biracial) and culture.
See how the search returns documents containing
multiracial and culture, biracial and culture, but
does not return multiracial or biracial when culture
is not mentioned.
You can use nesting in combination with any of the
other Boolean operators. Lets refer back to our
example of searching multiracial OR biracial AND
culture. Here, you would put parentheses around

Image of search results for each

search

what you want Google to search first, for example

(multiracial OR biracial) AND culture.
4.3.7

Now we have covered the basic Boolean operators

used to refine results in Google and Google
Scholar. Try experimenting with different
combinations of AND, OR, NOT/AND NOT (+ -),
phrase searching, and nesting to make the most of
your Google and Google Scholar searches.
Sources:
https://library.alliant.edu/screens/boolean.pdf
https://bislib.wikispaces.com/file/view/Boolean+che
at+sheet.pdf
http://guides.lib.washington.edu/content.php?
pid=55083&sid=429391

4.4) Activity

Audio / Narration

On Screen Description / Text / etc

4.4.1

Now you will have the opportunity to practice what

we covered in this module. Given a series of nonacademic and academic searches, you will apply
Boolean search rules to arrive at appropriate
results within 3 attempts.

Demonstration of completing the

practice?