Truncation
is a technique that broadens your search to include various word endings and spellings.
To use truncation, enter the root of a word and put the truncation symbol at the end.
The database will return results that include any ending of that root word.
The asterisk * symbol is most commonly used for truncation. However, check out the help screens as !, ?, or # may also be used.
For example:
entrepreneur* will find entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship, entrepreneurial etc.
child* will find child, children, childlike, childhood etc.
Use it with care to avoid finding too many alternatives.
Wildcards are similar to truncation but they are used to substitute for a single letter or no letter in a word.
They are useful for irregular plurals and for British/American English spellings.
They broaden your search by including variant word spellings.
The question mark symbol is most commonly used. However, check out the help screens as ! , *, or # may also be used.
For example:
wom?n will find woman and women
optimi?ation will find optimisation and optimization
model?ing will find modeling and modelling
Phrase searching is the most limiting technique as it is used to specify that your terms must appear next to each other, and in the order you specify.
Phrase searching is commonly achieved by surrounding your phrase with quotation marks.
Always check the Database Help screens, as some databases may use different symbols.
Phrase searching examples:
"World Trade Organization"
"influencer marketing"
WITHIN Operator - WxFinds words within x number of words from each other, in the order they were entered.
Substitute the x with the number of words that may appear between
Example: Hillary w2 Clinton
Would find Hillary Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton
Would not find Clinton, Hillary
Finds words within x number of words from each other. Words may appear in any order.
Substitute the x with a number of words that may appear in between
NEARx5 would be likely to be in the same sentence; NEARx50 in the same paragraph
Example: election* n5 parliament*
Would find parliamentary elections and election to Parliament
Would not find 'election debates can be very confrontational and hard fought, especially those between parliamentary candidates'
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