果冻传媒

A female students engages in research while on her computer in class.
A female students engages in research while on her computer in class.
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Mastering the Art of Research: How to Find Exactly What You Need

Written by Ann Marie McLean
Academic Research

Librarian Anne Marie McLean Shares Expert Tips on Boolean Logic and Smart Search Strategies

At some point in college, every student has to write a research paper. While there鈥檚 no one correct way to do research, some ways are more effective than others. 

Anne Marie McLean, Research, Learning, and Engagement Librarian at the 果冻传媒, shares her expert strategies for crafting the perfect search query. Whether you鈥檙e researching artificial intelligence in healthcare or exploring music鈥檚 impact on mental health, these college research tips will help you uncover more relevant and credible sources.

Boolean Logic

There are certain 鈥榗odes鈥 that can be used to focus the search on the most relevant results. Boolean Logic calculates results as either TRUE or FALSE using three basic logical operators: AND, OR, and NOT.

  • AND narrows your results by requiring all terms to appear.
    Example: AI AND healthcare will show only results that include both phrases.
  • OR broadens your search by including results that contain any of the listed terms.
    Example: AI OR 鈥渁rtificial intelligence鈥 finds both variations to bring up more sources.
  • NOT excludes terms that aren鈥檛 relevant to your topic.
    Example: artificial intelligence NOT ChatGPT removes content specifically about that tool.

Keyboard Symbols

Adding certain characters to words can further guide search results. 

  • Truncation uses an asterisk (*) to include word variants that share the same root.
    Example: music* finds music, musical, musician, and more.
  • Wildcards replace one letter in a word, helping you account for spelling differences or singular/plural forms. The symbol is often a ? or #, depending on the database.
    Example: wom?n retrieves both woman and women.
  • Parentheses group terms together to organize complex searches鈥攋ust like in algebra.
    Example: Health* AND Gender AND (鈥渁rtificial intelligence鈥 OR AI)
  • Quotation Marks ensure that phrases stay intact.
    Example: Searching for 鈥渁rtificial intelligence鈥 returns results where those words appear in that exact order.

Most databases will have an Advanced Search function that builds in Boolean Operators for you to help organize complex searches.

Tip from McLean: Watch the on the ! Also, find exact documentation for the UC Search system on the .

If you have questions, don鈥檛 hesitate to contact the library via phone at 606-539-4329, or via chat or email!

Academic Research