Montgomery College Libraries > Pat Semple, Librarian > International Baccalaureate Cohort, RMHS MCPS

A search expression that uses Boolean operators is one of the best ways to pinpoint information in a library catalog, database, or search engine. There are three components to Boolean search expressions:

• Keywords: tend to be the nouns that best describe a topic
• Boolean Operators: AND, OR, and NOT
• Punctuation: quotation marks for phrases, parentheses with OR, truncation symbol for word roots (question mark ? in MC Library Catalog, asterisk * in databases)

Here are some sample searches using keywords and Boolean operators:

"avian flu" OR "bird flu" OR "avian influenza"

"global warming" AND (oceans OR "marine life" OR coast)

(child* OR youth) AND obesity

"chesapeake bay" AND pollut*

(television OR tv) AND violence

iraq AND shiites AND sunnis

india AND development

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Find Book In Catalog: Go to the library's homepage, find the link for MC Library Catalog, and set "Select Search Type" to Keyword Boolean. Enter a short search expression; remember, books tend to be about broader topics: "league of nations" "intellectual property" music AND copyright baseball AND women japan? AND "war crimes" (biological OR chemical) AND weapon
Setting Limits: Remember that you can use the "Set One Limit" option to restrict your search to e-books, to just videos (VHS & DVD), to items published within the last five years.
Inter-Campus Loan: The book you want is at another campus? Go to MC Library Catalog and find this button:
Renew Books: Go to MC Library Catalog and find this button:

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Remote Access: We regret that we cannot offer you remote access to these resources. You will need to come into one of the campus libraries and get on the network to use them.

Sorting: Results can be sorted by date (most recent first) or relevance (highest occurrence of keywords).

Printing: For best results, use the Print button provided by the database publisher before submitting via the browser's print menu.

Search By Boolean Expression:

Academic OneFile

A very large collection of many different types of publications; a good place to start your research.

Academic Search Premier

Another very large collection of a range of publications; also a good place to start your research.

Project Muse

Just scholarly journals.

Sage Premier

Just scholarly journals.

Specialty Databases: For the complete listing of subject-specific databases, which include ones especially for topics related to literature, art, history, music, ethnic issues, gender issues, criminal justice, education, science, and psychology, go to the source:

Databases by Subject

   * * * ALL DATABASES * * *

A complete listing of the College's databases organized by topic.

Search Expressions: Here are some sample searches using keywords and Boolean operators:

(othello OR hamlet) AND (plants OR flowers)

"feral children"

music AND fractals

snowflakes AND structure

"francisco franco" AND (influence OR "spanish literature")

tibet AND "cultural revolution"

"tim burton" AND "mise en scene"

("pagan ritual" OR "pagan practice" OR "pagan symbol") AND christianity

"pledge of allegiance" AND ("under god" OR "church and state")

"spanish inquisition" AND sephardic AND "new world"

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The library has six-page handout on MLA citation style: MLA Citations: The Works Cited Page.

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