HIST 320: Indigenous History of North America

Boolean operators allow search words to be combined. They include:

AND (all words)
OR (any words)
NOT (excludes words)

The AND operator is the default operator which means that if there is no Boolean operator specified between words, the AND operator is used and Omni will search for all the words.

In Omni, Boolean operators are case-sensitive and must be entered ALL CAPS.

Using Multiple Boolean operators

If you use multiple Boolean operators in a single search string, use parentheses (  ) to ensure search words are combined and processed in the order intended. 

Without parentheses, search words will automatically be processed from left to right. The AND and NOT operators will be processed before the OR operator.

Without Parentheses:  Haudenosaunee OR Iroquois AND treaties

Finds items that contain both the words Iroquois and treaties plus items containing the word Haudenosaunee.

Always place parentheses around words using the OR operator so that the words enclosed with the parentheses will be processed first.

With Parentheses:  (Haudenosaunee OR Iroquois) AND treaties

Finds items that contain the word treaties with either the words Haudenosaunee or Iroquois.