Boolean Searching

NOT and NEAR

The Boolean NOT command is used in order to require that a particular search term NOT be present on web pages listed in results. It can also be described as an Exclude search. You use the command like this:

clinton NOT bill

Most of the major search engines support NOT or the AND NOT format. All the major search engines, including those that don't support the NOT command, also provide NOT functionality via the -symbol. The only exceptions are Google and LookSmart.

NEAR

The NEAR command is used in order to specify how close terms should appear to each other. You use the command like this:

moon NEAR river

The search engines below support the NEAR command. The exact distance between terms is also shown, as this varies by service:

AOL Search (you tell it how close you want the words, you specify the number)
Alta Vista (within 10 words of each other)
Lycos (within 25 words of each other)
WebCrawler (within 2 words of each other)

At AOL Search, Lycos, and WebCrawler, you can also override the default setting and specify exactly the distance you desire by using the NEAR/# command. For example, here's how you would indicate that the terms must be within 10 words of each other:

moon NEAR/10 river

AOL Search and Lycos also support a range of other proximity commands. See their help pages for more information. Consider seriously whether you really need to control proximity within your searches. Most search engines will try to find the terms you indicate next to each other, or within close proximity to each other, by default.

Also, all of the search engines support phrase searching through use of quotation marks.

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This file prepared and presented as an aid to help students understand the web. Send questions or comments to Royce Shook

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