BOOLEAN LOGIC APPLIED TO ONLINE SEARCHING Critical Thinking
& Problem Solving Janet Tillman/The Masters College, 2002,
permission is granted for non-profit educational use; any
reproduction or modification should include this statement.
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Boolean AlgebraAlgebra x and y = numerical values Boolean
algebra x and y = classes of objects; truth values Boolean Logic is
a form of algebra in which any variable can have a logical value of
TRUE or FALSE. Applications include mathematical logic, digital
logic, computer programming, set theory, and statistics. Boolean
Logic is crucial to the development of twentieth century computer
programming because it fits nicely with the binary numbering
system, in which each bit has a value of either 1 or 0. Science of
Logic based on Mathematics in that it works with logical rather
than numeric relationships
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Venn Diagram Set A Set B A fundamental application of Boolean
logic is the organization of concepts into sets.
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Intersection of Set A and Set B Set A Set B U = INTERSECTION U
AB
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A U B Union of Set A with Set B U= UNION Set A Set B
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Set A Set B A U B UNION INTERSECTION ? Set A Set B U A B
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BOOLEAN OPERATORS AND OR NOT Set B Set A
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BOOLEAN OPERATORS AND - Narrows the search - Can be thought of
as BOTH - Requires that both terms be in the results - Used for
combining differing concepts Messiah AND Christ the INTERSECTION of
two sets -Often represented as All of these
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BOOLEAN OPERATORS OR - Broadens the search - Used to find one
term OR another - Can be thought of as EITHER - Used to search
synonymous/closely related terms Messiah OR Christ the UNION of two
sets -Often represented as Any of these
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BOOLEAN OPERATORS NOT -Narrows a search -Used to eliminate
records -Exercise extreme caution; needed concepts may be
eliminated unintentionally Messiah Messiah NOT Christ Christ
Messiah
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BOOLEAN APPLIED
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a U b c U a b c
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U a b c
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a b c a OR b AND c
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Messiah Christ Jesus Messiah OR Christ AND Jesus
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Messiah Christ Jesus Messiah OR Christ AND Jesus
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Messiah OR (Christ AND Jesus) Messiah Christ Jesus
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Messiah OR Christ AND Jesus Messiah Christ Jesus (Messiah OR
Christ) AND Jesus
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MessiahChrist Jesus (Messiah OR Christ) AND Jesus
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Messiah OR Christ OR Jesus Messiah AND Christ AND Jesus Messiah
OR Christ AND Jesus
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Messiah OR Christ OR Jesus MessiahChrist Jesus
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MessiahChrist Jesus Messiah AND Christ AND Jesus
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MessiahChrist Jesus (Messiah OR Christ) AND Jesus
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LOGICAL OPERATORS Limiting OperatorsLimiting Operators Phrases
-Phrases -Field Date -Date Type of Document -Type of Document
Truncation, Wildcard -Truncation, Wildcard Language -Language Peer
Reviewed -Peer Reviewed Proximity -Proximity -Number of Pages
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LIMITING OPERATORS PROXIMITY: NEAR or WITHIN -NEAR / WITHIN is
a restrictive AND -designates the closeness of terms within a
source document -Designates the number of words by which search
terms can be separated
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w/n: within the same document where n = the maximum number of
words that can come between them Jesus w/1 Messiah LIMITING
OPERATORS PROXIMITY: NEAR or WITHIN w/s: within same sentence w/p:
within same paragraph Pre/n before term where n=designated number
Jesus the Messiah Jesus pre/1 Messiah
LIMITING OPERATORS Language -English -French -Chagatai Date
-Specific date -Before < -After > -Range Type of Document -
Article - Book Review - Thesis/Dissertation - Proceedings -
Manuscripts
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Library Catalog Author/Creator Title Subject ISBN SCIENCE Super
Taxa Gene Symbol Molecular Sequence BUSINESS Slogan Company Name
NYSE Symbol INTERNET Page Depth Location/Domain Media Types (Java,
Images, Script, etc.) PERIODICALS Citation/Abstract References
cited Fields Scholarly/Peer Reviewed