OPERATOR

EXAMPLE

EFFECT

AND
OR
NOTE

Law AND Order
Law OR Order
Law NOT Order

Searches for records with both words
Searches for records that have either word
Eliminates records in which the word is found

CHARACTER

EXAMPLE

EFFECT

(Parentheses)

"Quotation Marks"

(Law and Order) OR Courts
"Law and Order"

Determines how ANDs and ORs are treated. Words within parentheses are considered a unit and considered first
Quoted words or phrases are searched literally. Useful when searching for the actual words "and" or "or."

WILDCARD

 

EFFECT

*

?

 

Stands for any number of characters. A search for slav* would find slave, slaves, and slavery.
Stands for any single character. Search for ?ar?et would find target and carpet.