NEW search beta and Boolean logic

We’re introducing our brand new search beta, and it seems like the perfect time to review advanced search and Boolean logic in Alexandria.

Say you want to research World War II, and see what is available in the library regarding Japanese and German history.

In the search beta, to use Advanced Search, just click the plus icon next to the search bar to add additional search fields.

So back to World War II, say you use the Boolean operators to enter ‘history’ AND ‘Germany’ OR ‘Japan’.

But wait—which of the following are you really searching for? 
[History, and Germany/Japan] 
or 
[History+germany, or Japan] 

Have you just searched for anything to do with [history of Germany] or [history of Japan], or anything to do with [Germany History] and [whatever else about Japan]? One is clearly more helpful than the other.

So how does Boolean logic in Alexandria work?

Boolean operators use Parenthetical searching—in other words, they go top down, solving from left to right.

History
AND 
Germany 
OR 
Japan 

Is going to yield the following logic: history+germany, or Japan

Oops. So how can you do it right? You’ll need to enter:

Germany 
OR 
Japan 
AND 
history 

Which yields: Germany/Japan, & History

Going further, we need to look at what it does when you have that 4th search term in there. Let’s say you want history of Germany, history of Japan, and history of Italy.

You will want to set up the search this way:

Germany 
OR 
Japan 
OR 
Italy 
AND 
history 

Mixing and matching the operators? For example, for [germany war history] or [japan war history], you would do this: 

Germany 
OR 
Japan 
AND 
war 
AND 
history 

Want to read more about Boolean operators?

Check out the latest release notes for more info about the new search beta. Give it a try at https://demo.goalexandria.com/searchbeta , then give us your feedback!

Have questions? Reach out to our stellar support team at (800) 347-4942 · support@companioncorp.com for help!