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CIST Student Sandbox

IST 605: Food Studies and Social Justice LibGuide

A resource designed to help students explore the connections between food systems, culture, and social equity.

Quick Guide to Boolean Searches

Boolean searches use AND, OR, and NOT to make your search more precise:

  • AND: Finds results with all keywords.
    • Example: food AND social justice (both terms must appear).
  • OR: Finds results with any keywords.
    • Example: food OR nutrition (either term can appear).
  • NOT: Excludes a keyword.
    • Example: SNAP NOT urban (removes results with "urban").

Pro Tips:

  • Use quotation (" ") marks for exact phrases: "food deserts".

  • Use an asterisk (*) to find word variations: farm* (farm, farms, farming).

  • When using phrase searches quotation marks  (" ")  will keep the keywords together:  "Cultural food practices in history".

  • Use Nesting () to group keywords making it easier to perform multiple searches at the same time.: (Urban OR Rural) and SNAP. 

  • Use Proximity searching to find words that are near each other within a specific number of words: " Food (Near/5) Equity"

Search Tips

  • Use specific keywords related to your topic (e.g., "food" AND "public policy").
  • Apply Boolean operators:
    • AND to narrow your search (e.g., "food insecurity AND higher education").
    • OR to broaden your search (e.g., "food OR public health").
    • See Quick Guide to Boolean Searches for more tips.
  • Use filters to refine by material type (e.g., books, journal articles) and publication date.
  • Use the advanced search to target subjects like "Systemic inequalities AND food access" or "Racial inequities AND food systems".
  • Use filters for periods and specific document types (e.g., journal articles, book reviews, dissertations).
  • Use thematic keywords (e.g., "race AND food culture" or "food and social justice").
  • Explore journals focused on food history or cultural studies.