NOT and AND NOT allows a word or concept to be eliminated from all search results. It must be used carefully to be sure a relevant item is not dropped from the search results.
NOT and AND NOT do the same thing, but some databases require NOT and others require AND NOT. Check the help file in the database if the choice is not obvious.
- crimes NOT murder - The results will include articles on various crimes crimes, but none of them will address the specific crime of murder.
- abuse AND NOT sexual - The results will include materials addressing abuse, but will not include any article that has the word "sexual" in it.
** The NOT and AND NOT operations should be used with extreme caution. It is very easy to eliminate useful materials by adding a NOT phrase because article frequently address more than one topic. **