Conducting Boolean Searches

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The Boolean search term NOT allows you to tell a search engine to locate all records that do not contain a particular keyword. For instance, it turns out that the term composition is commonly used in both writing instruction and music instruction. If you are interested in looking only for sources that deal with written composition, you can use the Boolean term NOT to exclude sources dealing with musical composition.

This demonstration begins with a simple search on the Google search site and then contrasts that search with a Boolean NOT search on Google's advanced search page. Google is a leading Web Search Site, located on the Web at http://www.google.com. You can begin this demonstration by clicking on the Begin button. To restart the demonstration at any time, click on the Start Over button. To return to the main page of this demonstration, click on the Overview button.