3. Using the OR operator

In our search example, the OR operator is used to combine terms that are equivalent or that have similar meanings; for example, Facebook OR MySpace or Social Networking. This will result in documents that discuss any of the terms. In the image below the number of results is provided for each term searched separately. When the terms are combined with the OR operator, the total number of results equals 3758.

Combining tems using the OR operator usually retrieves more documents than a search by any of the terms alone. Therefore, when a search produces too few documents, combine similar terms with the OR operator.