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ENGL 1302 | Culture of Baseball | Prof. Heckelman

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Boolean Operators 

Using Boolean operators in a database is highly recommended, as this approach usually generates the most useful results.  Databases are not "intuitive" like search engines (e.g., Google) - they must be "told" how to process a search query.  Boolean operators let you "tell" the database what you want to see in your results.  

AND

Use AND to connect KEYWORDS - Retrieves sources with both/all terms [refines search]

Example: baseball AND America AND culture

OR

Use OR to connect SYNONYMS & LIKE CONCEPTS - Retrieves sources with either/any term(s) [broadens search]

Example: baseball AND (female OR women) AND managers

NOT

Use NOT to EXCLUDE word(s) - Eliminates sources with the word(s) following NOT 

Example: bats NOT mammals

Identifying Keywords

When you are conducting your background research on your topic, consider the who, what, when, where and why of what you are reading, and highlight or write the main points down. You can use those as keywords in the databases!


Who, what, when, where and why

Database Video Tutorials

Reference Databases (Gathering Background Information)

Academic Research