Module 2: Search Strategies

Truncation

Truncation is the use of a wild card character or symbol to stand for alternate endings attached to a root word. It is a quick way to search for words that might have more than one ending, such as the singular or plural forms of words. Truncation finds the stem of the word plus anything coming after it. Example: alcohol? retrieves

• alcohol
• alcoholism
• alcoholic
• alcoholics
• alcohols

Almost all databases support truncation, but they vary in terms of which character is the wild card. The two most common are ? and *, but database help screens always tell you. Whichever character is used by a database, they work the same way.

Be Careful! Be sure you don't truncate too far into a word. For instance pol? retrieves

• politics
• political
• policy
• police
• polygamy