Skip to Main Content
It looks like you're using Internet Explorer 11 or older. This website works best with modern browsers such as the latest versions of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. If you continue with this browser, you may see unexpected results.

Literature search: Block search builder

Overall guide for literature search

Use of the block search builder

The Block Search Builder is a tool designed to teach you how to create a search query using Boolean logic. You should be able to cut and paste the resulting string into the search boxes of most databases.

Type your core concepts / main keywords (1, 2 and 3) in the upper row, and your alternate terms for each concept/ keyword in the rows below. Clicking the 'create-button' will combine all terms into a proper search query/string with the AND & OR-operators.

Concept 1   Concept 2   Concept 3
AND AND
Alternate search terms Alternate search terms Alternate search terms

OR

OR

OR

OR

OR

OR

OR

OR

OR

Now copy and paste the above search string into a database search box.

The 'Search Strategy Builder' was developed by the University of Arizona Libraries(CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 US).