Using AND or NOT on TROVE

What if you are searching Trove for a name John Howard?  Well, the words are likely to be in thousands of results, after all he was a previous AUS Prime Minister.  But what if you are looking for a long lost relative that is not the PM?  Keep reading for some handy hints for searching on TROVE.

This is where AND or NOT can really come in handy.  There are several ways to use these terms, but here are ways to use them in a simple search on TROVE:

The minus sign

Using this simply put the minus sign before (no space) what you DO NOT want to see in your search.  Here are some examples:

• "John Howard" -minister
• "John Howard" -Canberra

The word NOT

• "John Howard" NOT minister
• "John Howard"  NOT Canberra

Or combine it with brackets (more effective)

• "John Howard" NOT (prime minister)
• "John Howard" NOT (prime OR minister OR Canberra OR elections)

The word AND

Trying putting in a place name you know your ancestor lived or worked in, or in my case was prosecuted in!

• "John Howard" AND Sydney
• "John Howard" AND (Sydney OR Parramatta)

I hope these two simple words help narrow down some of your searches and help you find your ancestors.