Scribd
Upload
65 views

Monster Boolean Basics

This document provides an overview of Boolean logic and operators that can be used to conduct more precise searches on job sites and other websites. It explains common Boolean operators like AND, OR, and NOT and how they combine search terms. It also covers other operators like NEAR, wildcard symbols, and quotation marks that can help narrow search results. Mastering these basic Boolean logic techniques allows users to search more effectively and efficiently find relevant information.

Uploaded by

Eeza Ortile
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
65 views

Monster Boolean Basics

This document provides an overview of Boolean logic and operators that can be used to conduct more precise searches on job sites and other websites. It explains common Boolean operators like AND, OR, and NOT and how they combine search terms. It also covers other operators like NEAR, wildcard symbols, and quotation marks that can help narrow search results. Mastering these basic Boolean logic techniques allows users to search more effectively and efficiently find relevant information.

Uploaded by

Eeza Ortile
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 2

Perfect Your Search with Boolean Basics

Learn the Logic for More Effective Job Seeking


Ed Melia, Monster Contributing Writer

Whether you're looking for a new job or a rhinestone monkey pendant, searching the
Internet for it may require more than a simple keyword. For example, uncovering an
engineering job via a search engine will be time-consuming and frustrating if you simply
use the keyword "engineer." The search will likely return thousands of irrelevant results,
and you'll have to sort through scores of openings for artificial intelligence, electrical,
sanitation and locomotive engineers.

To conduct more advanced searches -- that is, to find more precise results on Monster
and other sites -- understanding Boolean logic is a huge plus.

What Is Boolean?

Don't let the name scare you: Boolean logic is actually easy to understand. The word
Boolean is derived from the 19th-century British mathematician George Boole, which, if
nothing else, is a great factoid for your next dinner party.

Database administrators have used Boolean logic for decades. It's an information
retrieval technique that allows several search words and phrases to be combined using
operators or commands. Operators are instructions to the search engine such as "and,"
"or," "not" and "near." Learning to use these Boolean operators for keyword searches will
help narrow your results.

Basic Boolean Operators

Or

This operator combines keywords so that a document is retrieved if it contains any or


all of the keywords.

For example, searching for "developer or engineer" will find all documents in which the
words "developer" or "engineer" appear. "Or" is the default command on most, but not
all, search engines, so if you use more than one word in a search without an operator,
the search engine assumes each word is linked by "or."
And

Use "and" to combine terms so that information is retrieved only if all terms occur in the
same document.

For example, "software and engineer" will find only documents where both keywords
occur.

Not

The "not" operator prevents retrieval of documents in which specified terms occur
together. This operator is also helpful when a keyword has multiple meanings.

For example, "engineer not software" will find documents in which "engineer" occurs but
"software" does not.

Near

The "near" operator indicates that the search words you have entered must appear
within a certain number of words of each other (usually between one and 20).

For example, a search for "sales near management" would turn up results in which the
two words appear close together.

Wildcard Symbol: *

The asterisk can replace one or more letters at the end of a word. This might help you
search for something that can be phrased differently.

For example, "nurs*" will find documents containing the words nurse, nursing and
nurses.

Quotation Marks: " "

This operator searches for words or a phrase exactly as typed. Putting quotation marks
around the words "ultrasound technologist" will find only those documents containing
those two words in that exact order.

Other Boolean operators can help you fine-tune your search results, but mastering these
basics will increase your accuracy and decrease your frustration. It's also worth noting
that various Web sites will tinker with Boolean logic to create their own versions of the
search language. For example, the popular search engine Google has its own variations.

You might also like