The most basic function you will find in a database is Boolean Searching. Boolean Searching uses AND, OR, & NOT to tell the machine how your keywords should function.
When used in searches for your class, you may see something like these
poverty AND "academic achievement"
"socioeconomic status" OR "social status"
"urban housing" NOT "house projects"
But imagine a kid searching a database of an animal shelter...
dog AND cat = for kids who want a miracle
dog OR cat = for those who aren't sure which pet or have no preference
dog NOT cat = for those allergic to cats
The design of this page was partly adapted from Research: By Course, Subject, or Topic, by University of Arizona Libraries, © 2020 The Arizona Board of Regents on behalf of The University of Arizona, licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.