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ENG102. Spring 2019. Gibson.: Databases

Subscription Databases

Another helpful site is Google Scholar.  (You can include Albright database results by clicking the 'hamburger' icon, then settings, and finally, library links.  Type in 'Albright' and put a checkmark next to "Albright College" in the results, then click "Save".  This will work on personal computers, but not Albright computers.)

Boolean Searching

Here's an explanation of Boolean searching using cats to represent one search term and dogs to represent another.

If you're searching for only one term it's simple, just type the term into the search box and click Search.

 

A Boolean search for "Cats OR Dogs" will produce a list of articles that contain

  • information about Cats
  • information about Dogs
  • information about both Cats and Dogs

OR searches produce more results.

 

A Boolean search for "Cats AND Dogs" will produce a list of articles that contain information about both Cats and Dogs.

It won't return articles with just Cat or just Dog.

AND searches produce fewer results.

A Boolean search for "Cats NOT Dogs" will produce a list of results with Cats, but any item that mentions Dogs will not show up as a result.  You would lose any items that have both terms, so some caution is needed.