Each database/search engine has specific search operators.
A typical EBSCO database:
Boolean Logic:
AND (contains all search terms), OR (contains at least one search term), NOT (do not contain the specified terms).
Stop words:
For, of, the, an, so, etc. are ignored by search engine, even if they are enclosed in quotation marks; "what", "when", "how"are not stop words.
Quotation marks (""):
Used to search exact phrases. Only use with known phrases.
Truncation asterisk (*):
Used to find word endings. If used, the plural and synonyms for the word will not automatically be searched.
Proximity Search:
Near Operator (N) N#- maximum # of words apart, regardless of the order; Within Operator (W) W# - within # of words of one another, following the order.