|
Introduction
Databases
Database Selection
Start the Search
Advanced Search Techniques
Boolean
Truncation
Wildcards
Phrase Searching
Limiting
Adapt the Search
Checklist
|
|
Wildcards
Many databases use wildcard characters to search efficiently for alternative
terms.
The wildcard character can be thought of as a special character that
means:
'replace me with zero or more occurrences of any other character'.
The dollar, question mark or asterisk $ ,? , * are frequently used as wildcards.
Some examples of search terms containing the asterisk used as a wildcard, and examples
of the terms they might match are:
- bio* - retrieves biology, biosphere, BIOS, etc.
- *owl*- retrieves howl, howler, owl, owls, bowl,etc.
- wom*n - retrieves women, woman
To find out which character is used as the wildcard in a particular database,
check its online HELP system.
|
