Bishop Mueller Library : Occupational Therapy: Search Strategies

Boolean searching: handwashing and hospital acquired infection

Boolean logic uses the operators AND, OR, and NOT to connect search terms when using catalogs, databases, or a web search tool.

A simple search on: handwashing retrieves article citations containing that term.

A simple search on: handwashing AND hospital acquired infection retrieves citations containing BOTH terms.

Phrases in Quotes - most databases and web search engines allow you to search for exact phrases by placing them in quotes:

"hospital acquired infection"

Truncation - the library catalog and most databases use special characters to make searching easier in certain situations. Check the help screens in the catalog or database you are using to see what the special characters are for that resource.

the asterisk * is often used to stand for multiple endings on a word (singular, plural, etc.): vot* finds vote, voter, voters
wildcards are similar, but replace another character in a word: wom?n in the library catalog finds both woman and women

Nesting - use parentheses to sort out the elements of a more complex Boolean search phrase, especially when you may want to search for more than one related term for one element of your phrase:

(carbon OR ecological) AND footprint
("hip hop" OR rap) AND culture

For this research question: Does handwashing among healthcare workers reduce hospital acquired infection?

the main concepts are:

the Problem: hospital acquired infection

the Intervention: handwashing

Combine the two terms for a preliminary search.

BOOLEAN OPERATOR	SEARCH STATEMENT	RETRIEVES
AND	hospital acquired infection AND handwashing	Retrieves citations with BOTH terms present
OR	hospital acquired infection OR cross infection OR nosocomial infection	Retrieves citations with EITHER/ANY of the terms present (OR is used to string synonyms together; remember, OR retrieves MORE!)
AND, OR	(cross infection OR nosocomial infection OR hospital acquired infection) AND handwashing	Search sets may be combined. This search locates citations with the word handwashing AND (ANY one of the terms combined with OR)
AND, OR	(cross infection OR nosocomial infection OR hospital acquired infection) AND handwashing AND Publication type: randomized controlled trial	Retrieves citations with the word handwashing AND (ANY one of the terms combined with OR) AND limited to articles with the Publication type: randomized controlled trial. (This is one example of using database Limits.)
NOT	handwashing NOT masks	Retrieves citations with the term handwashing, but omits records with the term masks (Caution:* the NOT operator should be used sparingly and carefully as it may omit citations relevant to a search.* For example, an article about handwashing that includes the word masks might be relevant to a search on handwashing.)