Choosing Powerful Search Terms
This Google drive version of the search worksheet is locked, but you can save it to your Google Drive. To do this go to File | Make a Copy and then you can edit and put all your keywords into it.
Many library databases have advanced search screens like this:
| Boolean Operator | Example | What it does |
| AND | Halo AND language ideology | Narrows your search |
| OR | teens OR adolescents OR "young adults" | Broadens your search |
| NOT | "music education" NOT "music teachers" | Weeds out unhelpful stuff |
| "" (Quotation marks) | "multiple personality disorder" | 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 |
We're here to support both research and relaxation - check out our Summer Guide to the Libraries: Student Edition.