Boolean operators are connectors used to show a relationship between keywords. The three Boolean operators used in research databases include: AND, OR, NOT
AND - use this operator between keywords to narrow your search and reduce the size of your results
Ex. Zika AND Florida - this search tells the database that you only want articles that include Zika AND Florida within them.
OR - use this operator between keywords to broaden your search and increase the size of your results
Ex. Iraq OR Syria - this search tells the database that you want any articles that contain either Iraq OR Syria; only one of the keywords has to be present in the article to be part of your results
NOT - use this operator to exclude a keyword from your search
Ex. obesity NOT childhood - this search tells the database that you want articles on obesity as long as they exclude reference to childhood
Need more examples? See this short video from Deakin Library: Boolean Operators