Transcript Demonstration of Boolean Logic

Boolean Logic
Combining Searches in a Database
We’ll start out with a subject search on electronic commerce
Too Many Records--Need to Narrow Search
This search needs to be narrowed. We need to add another
topic. It’s not practical to skim so many citations. Plus with
this much information your paper/report wouldn’t have much focus
Add Topic Automobile industry
Let’s add another topic to our research: the automobile industry.
By itself this subject heading retrieves 17108 citations. What we’re
ultimately looking for is the use of electronic commerce in the
automobile industry.
Combine Both Topics
We use AND to combine both our topics
AND Narrows Records Retrieved
The combination (or intersection) of these topics equals
110 records.
Look at Listing of Subject Headings
You can see both subject headings listed here.
Combine Search Topic with a Specific Journal
Combining your search topic with articles from a particular journal
is also a useful technique. You can restrict your search this way to
journals that you know are in Feinberg Library. Try to figure out the
field name that a database uses to indicate journal name. In this database
it’s source.
Search Restricted to One Journal
You can see all these articles are from the journal Harvard
Business Review
Two Topics in a Specific Journal
In this search we’re combining the topics hotels and motels with
cost control. We use another AND to combine it with Cornell
Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly.
Search Results
You can see these articles include both our subjects and are
in the journal we specified.
Lexis-Nexis Basics
• Lexis-Nexis is a full-text database
• This database doesn’t use controlled
vocabulary
• This database doesn’t have keyword or
subject heading searching
• If you search using the “basic search” your
search will search through the full text
• If you’re not careful, you will retrieve too
many records
Guided Search in Lexis-Nexis
• This option allows you to search for you
words in only the headline or headline and
first paragraph
• This allows you to be more precise
• Guided search allows you to avoid
searching through the full-text
Guided Search
Click this tab
Guided Search
You can restrict you search to Headline or Headline and
Lead Paragraph. Also note date of publication or journal name
options.
Search Results
Look for Internet Banking and security in the records.
Other Info in Lexis-Nexis
• Don’t forget to look at the other parts of the
Lexis-Nexis business database such as:
– Company Financial
– SEC Filings and Reports
– Industry and Market
• Some of these areas will be useful for your
Final Project