How Boolean Operators Work

Queries in the quick search bar can be combined using the boolean operators "AND", "OR", and "NOT". Entering those words in all caps into the search bar combines different queries and executes them with the logic broken down below.

AND

Any queries combined with an AND operator will require all of the queries to appear in a record for it to be returned by the search. For example:

"Brian" AND "Test"

"The quick brown fox" AND "Brian" AND "Jumps over"

In each search above, all terms and phrases must appear in a record in order for it to be returned. 

OR

Queries combined with an OR operator will require at least one of the queries to appear in a record for it to be returned by the search. For example:

"Brian" OR "Test"

This query would return documents where either Brian or Test appear anywhere in the record, regardless of whether both did.

("The quick brown fox" AND "Brian") OR "Jumps over"

This query would return documents where "Jumps over" appears, or where both "The quick brown fox" and "Brian" appear. Note the parenthesis around the first of the query, which combine that entire set of queries with the OR statement that follows. 

NOT

Queries combined with the NOT operator are exclusionary, meaning they cannot appear anywhere in a document for the search for return it. For example:

"Brian" NOT "Test"

Would return records where Brian appeared, but only if Test did not appear.

("The quick brown fox" AND "Brian") NOT "Jumps over"

This query would return results where "The quick brown fox" and "Brian" appear, but only if "Jumps over" did not.