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How To - Do Basic Searches in WorldCat Discovery

Boolean Operators

Broaden or narrow your search by using AND, OR, and NOT (a.k.a. Boolean operators)

To broaden your results, use the word OR between words or phrases. For example, if we search for "cat OR dog" we'll get all the results for cat, and all the results for dog.

Venn diagram illustrating OR Boolean operator

To narrow your results:

  • Use the word AND to indicate that you want things that have BOTH terms / phrases. For example, if we search for "cat AND dog" we'll only get results that mention both animals.

    Venn diagram illustrating AND Boolean operator

  • Use the word NOT to indicate that you want to exclude a certain term or phrase. For example, if we search for "cat NOT dog", we'll only get results that mention cats and don't also mention dogs.

    Venn diagram illustrating NOT Boolean operator