6. Using truncation to broaden a search

Use truncation to broaden your search and to increase search results. Truncation is a technique for searching all variations of a word root. To use truncation you need to add a truncation symbol at the end of the word root. Truncation symbols allow you to search for a variety of words with the same word root. For example, typing comput* will retrieve records containing any of the words listed below:

• Computer
• Computers
• Computing
• Computerization

(demo: comput$ search in ERIC)

Truncation symbols vary from database to database. Check the database help page if you are unsure of the truncation symbol. Common truncation symbols are listed below: