Google & Google Scholar - Teaching the Writing Process - WRIT 350 - Sprague - Marshall Brooks Library at Principia College

Google/Google Scholar Search Techniques

Boolean Operators are words or symbols used as conjunctions to combine or exclude keywords in a search. Using these operators, you are able to focus your search on the results that will be most helpful. Google also has a few additional operators that work to refine results.

Below are common Boolean operators that work when searching within Google and Google Scholar, as well as an example of each.

Boolean Operators

Example

AND
Limit results

Vegetarianism AND obesity
(Search for content that contains both vegetarianism and obesity.)

OR
One term OR another

Scholarly OR academic
(Search for content that contains scholarly OR academic.)

-
Exclude a term from the search

Bears -Chicago
(Limits results to only those with bears and not the term Chicago.)

-site:
Exclude a website from the search

Bears -site:wikipedia.org
(Limits results to results other than Wikipedia.)

~
Synonyms of term

~academic
(Search for the term academic and its synonyms.)

“ “
Exact phrase

“sleep deprivation”
(Search for the phrase sleep deprivation.)

From Southern Adventist University's LibGuide: https://southern.libguides.com/google/boolean

Want even more search tips? Visit Google's support page!

Google Scholar How-To

Why set up Google Scholar Library Links?
When Google Scholar is linked to our library's resources, you have access to the articles that the library has already purchased. They are hyperlinked in your Google Scholar search results. Without linking, these articles are unavailable through Google Scholar. Library linking makes your life easier.

How do I set up Library Links?
Visit scholar.google.com, then click the three horizontal lines to find the "settings" button. Click "library links," then search for "Principia" in the search box. Next, make sure all the check boxes are checked, click "save," and you're done!