Using keywords in the Funding Centre: A guide to Boolean logic

The Funding Centre Keyword field uses Boolean logic. Many of your will be familiar with search engines that employ this logic, but mightn't have come across the name before. This help sheet outlines how it works to help you get the most from the Funding Centre's powerful search engine.

By default, the Funding Centre treats multiple keywords as OR, meaning it will return results that include any of the words you enter. However, you can refine your search further by using:

• Using AND narrows a search by combining terms.
• Using OR broadens a search to include results that contain either of the words you're looking for.
• Using NOT will narrow a search by exclusion. (Some search engines, like Google, recognise the minus (-) symbol, instead of the word NOT).
• Placing quotations (" ") around a specific phrase will help you narrow results in order to find information containing that exact wording.

In the Funding Centre, the default Boolean behaviour is OR. For example, the keyword search [Youth Development] will return results for grants that contain either youth, development, or both. The result would be the same if you entered the search term [Youth OR Development].

Use AND if you want to enforce all keywords entered to appear in the results. For example [Homelessness and housing AND Women] will return results for grants that contain both Homelessness and housing and Women (not one or the other).

Use double quotations for an exact match and order. For example: "Community garden”.

If you want to exclude a keyword, use NOT. For example: [Community NOT Garden].