The Wildcard (?) and Truncation (*)

• Use the wildcard and truncation symbols to create searches where there are unknown characters, multiple spellings or various endings.

Wildcard (?)

• The wildcard is represented by a question mark (?).
• The question mark represents a single character.
• To use the wildcard, enter the desired search terms and replace each unknown character with a " ? ".

Truncation (*)

• The truncation symbol is represented by an asterisk (*).
• The asterisk represents any number of characters.
• To use truncation
  • Enter a word and add an "*" to the end of it.
    • This will find occurrence of the word plus the plural form and other endings.
  • Enter the root of a word that you want to search on term and replace the ending with an "*".
    • This will find all forms of that word, including the original word.
• Example:
  • Type comput* to find:
    • Citations containing "computer", "computerize", "computing", etc.