BOOlean Searching or

Bonnie McCormick

Period 2

April 19, 2023

What is Boolean Searching?

• Boolean Searching is way to narrow your topic so that you can find good information quickly.

Why is it Called “Boolean”?

• Boolean Searching was named for George Boole, an English mathematician. Mr. Boole was the first to create a binary system of analysis using 1’s and 0’s, the same principle used for comupter language. Mr. Boole was truly ahead of his time.

How Does Boolean Searching Work?

• Boolean searching uses key words for your topic along with the words:

AND

OR

NOT

Why???• The computer only looks for what you

tell it to look for.

• Using AND, OR, and NOT tells the computer to include some words or to exclude some words when you are searching for a topic.

AND• Using AND tells the computer to find

information about all the words you typed when they appear together:

TIGERS AND

FOOD

OR• Using OR tells the computer that you

want information about either word you typed.

TIGERS

FOOD

OR

NOT• Using NOT tells the computer that you

want information about one word but NOT another.

FOOD

TIGERS

Let’s See How It Works…You want to know about tigers and

their eating habits, so you type in:

tigers AND eating

This tells the computer that you want everything on the internet that talks about tigers and eating only when they are mentioned

together.

AND

• You might want sites that mention either tigers or their eating habits,

so you type in:

tigers OR eating

This tells the computer that you want everything on the Internet that talks about tigers or eating.

OR

•You probably got a lot of information. In fact, by now, you have probably gotten

some hits about the Tigers football team. This time tell the computer:

tigers AND food NOT football

This tells the computer that you want everything about tigers and their eating habits, but you do not want anything about football.

AND NOT

Conclusion• Using Boolean searching narrows

your topic.• Using AND, OR, or NOT tells the

computer exactly what you want.• Boolean searching helps you get

good information without wasting time.

• Boolean searching is easy!

Works Cited

"George Boole." Lincolnshire-web.co.uk. . Logocrat

2000. 06/06/2001. http://www.lincolnshire-web.co.uk/lincolnshire-illustrious/george_boole.htm.

Koch, P.M.. "Boolean searching--the operators AND, AND NOT, OR." Pandia. 2001. . 06/06/2001. http://pandia.com/goalgetter/4.html.