Many library databases have advanced search screens like this:
| Boolean Operator | Example | What it does |
| AND | bilingual education AND language policy | Narrows your search |
| OR | teens OR adolescents OR "young adults" | Broadens your search |
| NOT | "heritage language immersion" NOT "dual language immersion" | Weeds out unhelpful stuff |
| "" (Quotation marks) | "second language acquisition" | Searches an exact phrase, those words in that order |
| * (Asterisk) |
communic* (will include possibilities like communication, communicators, communicating, etc) |
Includes all possible word ending variations |
Taking the time to break your research interest apart will help you to construct powerful search strings. Complete this form to produce a downloadable worksheet. The worksheet will help guide your search strategy. Scroll down and use blue next buttons to complete the form.
If you prefer, you may make copies of the Google documents linked below.