Boolean OR will expand your search
results. It is usually used to combine synonyms. It tells the
database that two or more terms can be used interchangeably.
When using a Boolean OR search, any or all of the terms may be in the
search results.
A Boolean OR search is often part of a Boolean AND search. An
example would be:
heroes and villains and (motion
pictures or movies or film)
This search will find sources that
always have the terms heroes and villains and also must include at least one
of the three terms in parentheses. This is an efficient search method because
different articles may use different terminology to describe essentially the
same thing. This search would retrieve all of those sources regardless
of the terminology they use. This is where your list of synonyms or
related terms you brainstormed earlier will come in useful.
Here's a helpful (and slightly humerous) YouTube video, "What the Heck is Boolean Searching?" that explains well how to put together a Boolean search.
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