1. Super Advanced Search Techniques
Wildcards
•Truncation
•Proximity
•
Erin L. Nagel, Clayton State University Library

2. Wildcard searching
Not as scary as it sounds
 Use for search terms with unknown
characters and alternate spellings


3. Wildcard symbols
? = Match exactly one letter
# = Match zero or one letter
* = Match multiple letters

4. Wildcard examples
Match only one letter per ?
 Plurals

 wom?n

International spelling
 defen?e

 woman, women
 defense, defence
Use one ? for each character
 psychology, psychiatry, NOT
psychotherapy
 psych????y

Unsure of spelling
 Devi?nce
 devience, deviance

5. Wildcard examples
Match zero or one letter
 International spellings

 colo#r

Plural
 color#

 color, colour, NOT colors or colours
 color, colors, NOT colour or colours
Unsure of spelling
 enviro#ment

 enviroment, environment
Combine wildcards
 colo
# r#  color, colors, colour, colours

6. Wildcard examples
Match multiple letters
 International spellings

 orthop*dic

 orthopedic, orthopaedic
Related concepts

psychology, psychiatry, psychotherapy, psychopathy
 psych*y

Replace entire word
 “A
Midsummer * dream”  A midsummer night’s dream

7. Truncation searching
Not as fun as vacation searching
 Use to search for various endings to
root words
 Use asterisk symbol


8. Truncation examples

International spellings
 theat*

 theater, theatre, ALSO theatrical
Various endings
 computer, computing, computation
 psycho*  psychology, psychopathic,
psychopathology, psychotherapy
 comput*

Use as many common letters as possible
 colonoscopy, colonization, colon, colony
 coloni*  colonization, colonies, colonialism
 colon*

9. Proximity searching

Find results that contain two or more search terms
within a specified number of words of each other

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZhEcRrMA-M

10. Proximity search operators



Near (N) = ignores word order
Within (W) = maintains word order
Use with a letter to specify the maximum number
of words to appear between your search terms
 N8
 W5

Place operator between your search terms
 psychotherapy N5
 arts
W4 school
benefit

11. NEAR (ignores word order)

(psychotherapy N5 benefit) vs. (psychotherapy
AND benefit)
 psychotherapy
AND benefit= 25,533 results
 psychotherapy N5 benefit = 2,444 results
 Benefits
and challenges in practiceoriented psychotherapy research in Germany
 Does Psychotherapy Benefit Pre and Post-operative
Anxiety in Eye Diseases?
 Association of psychotherapy with disability benefit claim
closure among patients disabled due to depression.

12. WITHIN (maintains word order)

(tax W4 reform) vs. (tax AND reform )
 tax
AND reform= 175,210 results
 tax W4 reform = 82,626 results
 Pathways
to Tax Reform Revisited
 Tax Law and Healthcare Reform
 NOT = Identifying Key American Taxpayer Relief Act
and Health Care Reform Changes in Year-End
Tax Planning.
 NOT = ALTERNATIVE PROPOSALS FOR
THE REFORM OF INTERNATIONAL TAX.

13. Combine tools to maximize your
search

Boolean + proximity
 healthcare

Truncation + Boolean
 olympi*

W8 (legislation OR reform OR law)
AND athlet*
Wildcard + truncation + Boolean
 wom?n
AND (equal* OR rights) AND (work* OR
employ*)

Wildcard + proximity + truncation
 orthop*dic
N6 rehabilit*

14. A word of caution
These operators will work in Galileo discover
searching (from library home page or Galileo
home page)
 Different databases use different operators
 Always use “Help” menu when searching in a
different database


15. Need more help?
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Get help from a CSU Librarian
In-person
By phone- (678) 466-4346
Online chat
Text message- (678) 845-8398
Email
http://clayton.edu/library/Ask-a-librarian
Erin L. Nagel, Clayton State University Library