< information science > (Or "Boolean query") A query using the Boolean operators, AND , OR , and NOT , and parentheses to construct a complex condition from simpler criteria. A typical example is searching for combinatons of keywords on a World-Wide Web search engine .
Examples:
car or automobile
"New York" and not "New York state"
The term is sometimes stretched to include searches using other operators, e.g. "near".
Not to be confused with binary search .
See also: weighted search .
(1999-10-23)