Database Truncation & Wildcard Symbols - Kresge Library

Database Truncation & Wildcard Symbols

Truncation allows you to search for a term and its variations
Wildcards let you substitute symbols for one or more letters. They are useful when you are unsure of spelling, when there are alternate spellings, or when you only know part of a term.

Truncation	?	*basket?* will find basket, baskets, basketry
Wildcards	% (one character)	*wom%n* will find woman, women
	? (multiple characters)	*col?r* will find color, colour

FirstSearch (WilsonSelect, Medline, MLA)

Plurals	+	*adventure+* will find adventure, adventures
Truncation	*	Indian* will find Indian, Indians, Indiana, Indianapolis
Wildcards	# (one character)	*wom#n* will find woman, women
	? (zero to nine characters)	*colo?r* will find color, colour, colonizer

InfoTrac (OneFile, Health Reference Center)

Truncation	*	pigment* will find pigment, pigments, pigmentation, etc.
Wildcards	? (one character)	relev?nce will find relevance, even if you can’t remember if it’s spelled with ance or ence
	! (one or no characters)	colo!r will find both color and colour

Truncation	!	litig! will find litigator, litigated, litigation, litigating, etc.
Wildcard	* (one or more characters)	*womn** will find woman and women

EBSCOhost (CINAHL, Health Source)

Truncation	*	effect* will find effect, effects, effective, etc.
Wildcard	? (one character)	ne?t will find neat, nest, next

Truncation

pigment* will find pigment, pigments, pigmented, pigmentation, etc.

Wildcard

ne?t will find neat, nest, next

Plurals

effect& will find effect, effects

Truncation

effect* will find effect, effects, effective, etc.

Created on 9/11/06 by Beth Kraemer / Last updated on 8/8/08 by Tricia Juettemeyer

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