Boolean operators use mathematical logical to help you find relevant sources and they can be applied to both search engines and databases.

There are three (3) Boolean operators:

Operator	What Does It Do?	Search Example
AND	The AND operator tells the database to find sources that include both terms. So, it will only show results that mention climate change and agriculture - not just one or the other. This helps narrow your search to more specific, relevant sources. This operator works in both search engines like Google and research databases such as JSTOR.	"climate change" AND agriculture
OR	The OR operator tells the database to find sources that include either term. So, it will show results that mention teenagers, adolescents, or both. This helps you broaden your search results to include different terms that mean the same or similar things. This operator works in both search engines like Google and research databases such as JSTOR.	teenagers OR adolescents
NOT	The NOT operator tells the database to exclude certain terms. In this case, it will show results about social media but leave out any results that mention Facebook. This helps you filter out information you don't want. In search engines like Google, this operator is shown with a minus sign ( - ), but in research databases like JSTOR, you use the word NOT instead.	"social media" NOT Facebook