Most electronic databases allow for a symbol to be used at the end of a word to retrieve variant endings of that word. This is known as truncation. Using truncation will broaden your search. Check to find the correct truncation symbol. Truncating after too few letters will retrieve terms that are not relevant.
Some databases allow for wild cards to be embedded within a word to replace a single character.
This page was created by and maintained by Mary S. Woodley. Last revised 22 March 2000.