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| Information Literacy Guide | Locating Information | Electronic Searching | Resources | Site Outline |
Locating Information: Electronic Searching: Truncation / Wildcard |
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This feature of electronic searching will increase the number of his in your search results. YOu search the stem or root of a word and the search engine or database automatically locates records with all words that begin with that string of characters. |
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Truncation or Wildcard |
A symbol at the end of a word stem provides for all variants on the word stem. The most commonly used symbol is the asterisk (*)
For example, a search for educat* will retrieve
educate, educating, education, educational, educator, educators, etc.
Be careful not to truncate too far (e.g. edu*), or you will retrieve unrelated words!
Internal Truncation - A symbol within a word provides for all possible variants inside a word or word stem. The most commonly used symbol for internal truncation is #.
For example, a search for wom#n will retrieve
woman and women
You may use terminal and internal truncation on the same word or word stem.
Look at the help pages for the database you are using to determine the truncation symbols. Most systems provide truncation; some provide only simple plurals.
On to the next section... Nesting
| Defining | Locating | Selecting | Organizing | Presenting | Evaluating |
Please send comments or questions to the 4J
Web Team.
Eugene School District 4J
200 North Monroe Street, Eugene, Oregon 97402
Phone: 541.687.3123 [TTD 541.687.3447]
Last modified: October, 2003 by Steinke, Ague, Feuerhelm, Maxwell, and Warburg