Using Boolean Operators with Search Engines Using Boolean Operators with Search Engines Boolean Operators, named after 19th century mathematician George Boole, define a search. In order to use Boolean operators effectively, it is necessary to understand how using different operators can change your search results. Boolean operators can be logical or positional . Logical operators describe relationships among terms. Positional operators describe proximity between terms.
Most search engines require that Boolean operators be in upper case.
In the examples, characters are given in parentheses next to the Boolean term. Quick Reference for Boolean Operators describes the Boolean Operators, Boolean characters, and resulting action for each search engine. In this example, the search results will be only those documents which contain both the terms audio AND video . In the diagram they are represented by the shaded area. In this example, the search results will be documents which contain either the term apples or pears or both terms.