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From the previous sections, you know about Boolean operators and you have brainstormed alternative words, phrases, and spelling.
You can put this all together in one big search called a Boolean search strategy:
health OR hospitals
AND
"aging population" OR "ageing population" OR "greying population"
AND
Australia*
If you are typing all this on one search line, then put the alternative terms in parentheses (round brackets)
(health OR hospitals) AND ("aging population" OR "ageing population" OR "greying population") AND Australia*
However, many search engines have an Advanced Search where you can combine the different concepts using multiple search boxes.
When using an advanced search, put different words or phrases for the same concept or subtopic on each line, separated by OR.
Join the lines with AND.
Try it yourself
Database in miniature - explore different search combinations
The interface below represents a miniature database of 8 journal articles
Experiment with the search choices, and click the Search button to see the results of different searches on the miniature database
After clicking the Search button, some articles will be highlighted in green to show the ones you have found with your search choices, and a brief text explanation of your search will appear below the highlighted articles
Mini-Database Searchinator
This is a limited search interface, with pre-filled example search terms (normally you would type these yourself)
Mini-Database contents
Survival of universities in Australia
Universities in the US
Universities and TAFEs in Australia
TAFEs in Australian conditions
The Australian situation: TAFEs in Australia
Australians at university
Australian universities
Universities in NSW
The 8 boxes above represent a collection of 8 journal articles - a mini-database (micro-database?). Which ones did you find?
Mini-Database search review
Database search
Search NAME
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