Nesting
Nesting can help you formulate more complicated searches. By using parentheses to contain certain terms, you can fine-tune your search.
Let's say you want burgers with ketchup and either mustard or mayo. You could use nesting to construct your search like this:
This way you get all of the following possible combinations:
ketchup AND mustard
ketchup AND mayo
catsup AND mustard
catsup AND mayo
The lines below illustrate the different combinations:
Now, since you didn't exclude any other condiments, it's quite possible that you'll get burgers with all three--mustard, ketchup, and mayo. Either way, you've still expanded your search so that you get more relevant hits. Nesting, you see, can be quite useful.
Still confused? Maybe just craving a burger? Contact a librarian or consider enrolling in the library's credit course (LIR 1011--Introduction to Academic Research), where you can learn all about Boolean searching and other skills for effective research.
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