 FamiliesConnect: Tech Tips
* It's a Wildcard! *
Ever search for a common topic only to be surprised by the few number of hits? For example, if you were to search an electronic encyclopedia, and look up "dogs" you may be surprised to find that you have zero results. How is that possible? You did not search the correct form of the word. The correct searchable term would be "dog" not "dogs."
It is sometimes difficult to know under what form of a word a term might be found. This is when the wildcard search, also known as truncation, comes in handy.
A search engine looks for the exact words that you type into the query box. If you place an asterisk after the root of the term that you are searching, it will locate information on all forms of the word that follow the asterisk. For example:
Ski*
Using the asterisk after the word "ski" will locate information on
ski
skis
skiing
skiers
Sometimes a surprise or two may pop up. Look at hit #3 above. Our search also found the term "skies."
Another example would be danc* for dance, dances, dancing, dancers.
Use the wildcard * search whenever you would like to find all aspects of a topic, if you are not sure if the term will appear as a singular or plural form, or if you are just not sure under which form of the term the information will be found.
Hope you have good search*!
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