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Spark 10 (Schiebelhut)

1) AND/OR (Boolean Logic)

Use AND / OR to join search terminology.

  • OR - joins similar terms / terms that get at the same issue - BROADENS
  • AND - joins dissimilar terms - NARROWS

Examples: Using OR

  1. "phospholipid bilayer" OR "cell membrane"
  2. Covid OR "sars-cov-2" OR "coronavirus 2"
  3. "PCR" OR "polymerase chain reaction"
  4. "Caenorhabditis elegans" OR "C. elegans" OR "roundworm"

Examples: Using AND

  1. "virus" AND "mRNA"
  2. "regenerative medicine" AND "stem cells" AND tissue

Examples using AND & OR

Sample Search A

"sars-cov-2" OR "Covid 19"

   AND

"wastewater surveillance"

Question: What strategy might we take if Sample A returns too many results?  How could we modify this search?