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Research Guides@Tufts

Fletcher Capstone Project: Database Searching

Keyword Searching

Keyword Searching


Using AND/OR/NOT (Boolean Search Operators)
AND

Use AND to focus search and combine different aspects of your topic.

Example: global health and standards

OR
 

Use OR to expand your search and find synonyms/related terms.

Example: emergency or disaster

NOT

Use NOT to exclude a word or phrase from your search

Example: disaster mitigation not United States

 


Additional Search Tips

Phrase search  - Use quotation marks to search for a particular phrase.

Example: "disaster mitigation"

Truncation * - Use an asterisk to find variations of a word. Put an asterisk following the root of the word to find all variations of that word, including singular and plural.

Example: resil* (finds resilience, resilient, etc.)

(Grouping/Nesting Keywords) - Use parentheses ( ) as a way to group similar search terms together.

Example: (CHEs or "complex humanitarian emergencies") and prevention 

See the Basic Search Tips guides for more information, including examples.

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