BOO! (-lean search)

Search Keys	Purpose of limiter	What did you find when you tried it? How many hits? Was this limiter effective?
AND	Narrows my search and finds web pages in which both words occur	[science and elementary]  I got about 293,000,000 hits.  The hits on the first page had to do with elementary science resources and science mini-lessons.  This limiter was effective because it gave me science resources for an elementary classroom.
OR	Expands my search and finds web pages in which either or both words occur.	[science or elementary]  I received about 294, 000, 000 hits related to science resources for elementary classrooms from the web and from various school districts as well as links to elementary science lesson ideas and elementary science education journals.  I feel this limiter would be useful if I did not have a narrow focus of what I wanted to search for.
NOT	Narrows my search and finds web pages in which one word appears but not another.	[bears NOT football; bears NOT Chicago]  This limiter failed as almost all of the first hits I received had to do with the Chicago Bears football team.
“                    “	Use for phrases and it limits searches to searches for words as a single unit.	[“bears hibernation”]  I received about 38,000 hits.  All of the first hits were related to actual bears and hibernation.  I felt his limiter was much more effective that the previous one.
*	Truncate words; cuts word short to allow for a variety of endings.	[teach*ing]  I received about 445,000,000 hits.  The first hits were anything from the Wikipedia page for “teacher” to the top ten requirements for good teaching and teaching/living in Anchorage.  This limiter is definitely not effective to narrow down a search.
- (minus)	Designates words that should not appear in the search.	[bears –Chicago]  I received about 592,000,000 hits.  This limiter was much more effective at just including bears and nothing to do with the football team.
+ (plus)	Designates words that must appear in documents included in the search results.	[whales +humpback]  I received about 4,240,000 hits.  The first hits were all about humpback whales.  This limiter was very effective in narrowing the search to include just one type of whale.
5 Others You’ve Found		[whale +”humpback entanglement”]  I received hits on a paper on humpback whale entanglement rates in fishing gear in southeast AK, results of the SPLASH humpback whale study, and other information regarding humpback whale entanglement.
		[car* -rental]  The first hits were all car dealerships but not rental car agencies!
		[“Lake Tahoe” +”mysis shrimp”]  I received many hits related to research that has been done on the mysis shrimp and its impacts on Lake Tahoe.
		[“social studies” +”elementary education”]  I received many hits on books related to teaching social studies in elementary education and other sites with resources for teaching social studies in elementary education.
		[Alaska +bears +”Glacier Bay National Park”]  I received hits on GBNP, fauna and flora in GBNP, as well as hits on Inns in Gustavus that have the term “bear” in them.