Wildcards

Wildcards allow you to substitute one or more letters in your search word. This is particularly useful when you are unsure of the spelling of a word, or would like to search for words that have a common beginning or root.

 "?" Search

By adding a "?" to the end of your search word, the Catalogue will look for that word plus all other words that begin with it, for example, a search for "child?" will search for words that include "child", including "children" and "childhood".

"#" Search

The "#" search allows you to substitute one letter in a word, for example, a search for "wom#n" will find "woman" and "women".

 

Practice

The word defence is spelt "defense" in America and "defence" in Australia. How would you write a "#" search to find records that contain both spellings of the word? Answer