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Boolean search logic – Follett VERSION 6.00 User Manual

Page 460

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04/04

460

Search Stations

Boolean search logic

In addition to refining their keyword searches by selecting a searchable field for

each search term, your patrons can use Boolean operators (AND, OR, BUT NOT)

to define the relationship between search terms:

cats AND dogs

cats

dogs

You get only titles that mention both cats and dogs.

cats OR dogs

cats

dogs

You get all titles that include cats, dogs, or both.

cats BUT NOT dogs

cats

dogs

You get only titles about cats that do not mention dogs.

Using a second Boolean operator to add a third keyword or phrase can either

contract or expand the search results. The search order follows the same logic as

the equation ( a + b ) + c :

( cats AND dogs )

AND fish

cats

dogs

fish

You get only titles that mention cats, dogs, and fish.

( cats AND dogs )

OR fish

cats

dogs

fish

You get all titles that include both cats and dogs, plus all

the titles that mention fish.

( cats AND dogs )

BUT NOT fish

cats

dogs

fish

You get only the titles that include cats and dogs and

do not mention fish.

Keep in mind that OR always expands a search. If the second Boolean operator is

OR, the search could have some unexpected results. For example, imagine you're

looking for books about cats that also mention either dogs or fish. The results of a

search on (cats AND dogs) OR fish will be dominated by titles about fish.

Instead, you should search for (dogs OR fish) AND cats.