Search which contains truncated words, word stems or 'wild card' characters
in database searching, cutting a word short so that the computer will search its variant forms (singular/plural, verbal/adjectival/ adverbial, past/present tenses) all at once. The string of letters is usually completed by a truncation symbol. Most databases use * as the symbol. TRELLIS uses ?. More about Truncation.
The addition of a symbol to a word root in a keyword search to retrieve variant endings on the root. Truncation is particularly useful in retrieving both the singular and the plural forms of a word in the same search. In most online catalogs and electronic databases, the truncation symbol is the asterisk (*), although other symbols may be used.
To shorten. For example, a truncated protein results if a premature stop codon interrupts the gene.
To end a computation according to a specified rule; for example, to drop numbers at the end of a line instead of rounding them off, or to drop characters at the end of a line when a file is copied.
a method employed by users of retrieval systems to broaden words by removing the final part from consideration during the matching process. Users, for example, might enter "retriev" to find occurrences of "retrieve", "retrieved", "retrieval", and "retrieving".
The use of a symbol or "wildcard," usually an asterisk (*) to add flexibility to a search word. Used with keyword searching. Adding a wildcard to the end of a base word can bring back that word with numerous different endings.
typing a special symbol (usually an *) at the end of a root word to retrieve all possible spellings or ending variations.
The use of a symbol, sometimes called a wildcard, to stand for 0, 1, or more letters in a search word. The symbol used, and where it can be used, vary from database to database. Common truncation symbols are: * ? $ For example: canad* will retrieve canada canadian canadians, etc wom?n will retrieve woman women lab?r will retrieve labor labour
the ability to search for related terms by entering a root and a wildcard (usually an asterisk). For example, entering medic* would return pages containing medical, medication, medicine, etc. Not all search engines support truncation.
The ability to enter the first part of a keyword, insert a symbol (usually a *) and accept any variant spelling or word endings from the occurrence of the symbol onwards eg femini* retrieves feminine, feminism etc.
Truncation is the shortening of a search term so that all terms with the same stem will be automatically retrieved. A symbol is used to command the system to truncate the term (e.g. touris* will find tourist, tourism or tourists).
shortening or cutting off part of a search term so that it can be matched against other terms with the same stem or root. (Keenan, p.53)
1. The process of shortening or cutting off part of a keyword or a title in a Permuted Title Index. A truncated title lacks one or more words or syllables at the beginning or end. 2. Shortening of a search term so that it will matched related terms starting with the same stem, e.g. 'libr': will match library, libraries, librarian, librarianship, etc. See also Wildcard
Typing a special symbol at the end of a word to find all possible endings of that word. If you wish to truncate a word while searching the BMCC Library Catalog, use the question mark (?); other databases may use the pound sign (#), the asterisk (*), or another symbol. For example, k=FREUD? in CUNY+ will find FREUD as well as FREUDIAN.
The method of using a special symbol at the end of a word to retrieve the stem or the root and all possible endings of that word. To truncate a word while searching LINCC use an asterisk (*). (Also see the catalog help files located on the LINCC help pages)
using a special symbol instead of the end of a word in an electronic search to retrieve all possible endings of that word. Sometimes truncation can be used within a word to retrieve variant spellings or at the beginning of a word to retrieve all prefixes. Truncation is explained in OWL 4.
the process of typing a special symbol at the end of a word's root form to retrieve all possible endings of that word. Frequently used symbols for truncation include the asterisk (*), the pound sign (#), or the question mark (?). For more information see Truncation.
to shorten or cut off a word or phrase in order to retrieve varied endings of the word. An example is "librar" in order to search for the terms library, libraries, and librarian.
A method of broadening a search on an on-line database with a symbol that will represent other possible variations of the word stem. For example, instead of entering the word 'environmental', 'environment*' will search the database for 'environment', 'environments' and 'environmental'.
A symbol that substitutes for letters at the end of words in a search statement.
When searching by keyword, a means of looking for all the variations of word, or root word, endings. To see an example of truncation, look in the catalog tutorial under Keyword 4: Truncation. See also -- Keyword
Truncation is a symbol put at the end or in the middle of a word in order to catch all variant endings or spellings of that word when searching a database.
In a keyword search, a word root followed by a truncation symbol "*" retrieves additional or variant endings. Useful when wanting to search for a word root that has many word forms relevant to your search (legis* for legislation, legislators, legislature) or for the singular and plural of a word (school* for school and schools).
A search on a piece of a longer world or phrase, usually its leftmost portion.
Symbols that can be used to expand search queries. The * or the ? are the most common truncation symbols. It is a good habit to always check the HELP feature of any catalogue or index to verify the symbol used. Note: the TRU Library catalogue's symbol for invoking the truncation feature is: $ Example: librar* will look for library, librarian, libraries etc. Take care when truncating a word or your results will be confusing Example: cat* will look for cat, cats, catapault, catalogue and so on...
In the formulation of a search expression, truncation is used when you want to find all endings of a word. It is done by cutting off the end of the word back to the root, and replacing it with a symbol, usually the asterisk (*). When given such a request, a search engine or database will look for all possible ends of the word, in addition to the root word itself.
a method of searching for relevant sites on search engines. In a search, the ability to enter the first part of a keyword, insert a symbol (usually *), and accept any variant spellings or word endings, from the occurrence of the symbol forward. (E.g., femini* retrieves feminine, feminism, feminism, etc.)
in keyword searching, a means of searching for the variations of word endings. Attaching a designated character to a word stem in order to find all words beginning with that stem. Characters used to represent truncation vary though an asterisk is often used. An example of truncation is "computer*" which would include hits with the words "computer", "computers", "computerize", "computer-assisted".
Computer search method where all the variations of a word are searched for by attaching a truncation symbol to the root word. Use the "Back" button at the top of your screen to return to the previous screen.
In a keyword search, a word root followed by the truncation symbol will retrieve variant endings. Truncation is useful for retrieving both the singular and the plural forms of a word at the same time. See also: Boolean searching. In GIL, the truncation symbols are the question mark (?) and the pound sign (#). In the following keyword search, GIL retrieves records containing "theater," "theatre," "theatrical," "dramatic," "dramatically," etc. Example: fi theat? or drama? Some other databases use an asterisk (*) as a truncation symbol
A symbol that stands for one or more letters at the end of a word. In an online index or database, you can use truncation to search for the root of a word and all variant endings. For example, in the Library Catalogue, the symbol is $ ( advertis$ retrieves "advertiser," "advertisers," "advertising," "advertisements"); in InfoTrac OneFile, you could search for human* to retrieve records with the words "humans," "humanity," "humanities," and so forth. Truncation symbols vary by database; always check the "Help" screens or Ask a Librarian..
Allows you to search for alternate forms of words. Shorten the word to its root, then add a special character (*, $, !). See: Search Techniques.
In a search, the ability to enter the first part of a keyword, insert a symbol (usually *), and accept any variant spellings or word endings, from the occurrence of the symbol forward. (E.g., librar* retrieves library, libraries, librarian, librarians, etc.) [| Up to T| Down to V | Bottom
symbols ( $ or * or ? ) Truncation allows you to search for a term and its variations by entering only the root of the term followed by a truncation symbol. Our Library Catalog uses a dollar sign ($). Other systems may use an asterisk (*) or a question mark (?). Check each vendor's “Help” screens to determine which truncation symbol are used.
A symbol placed after the root of a word in an online search to retrieve variant endings. Frequently used symbols include *, $, ?, and !. Example: librar* will find records that mention library, libraries, librarian, librarians, etc. Useful for expanding search results.
Searching for part of a word, the rest can be anything. Typically refers to right-hand truncation but also used for internal & left hand truncation. All variants combined with a boolean OR Syn. wildcard, stemming, root
Using the first part of a word to find any word in a database that starts with those letters. After typing in the first part of the word, a symbol is then typed in to represent any number of letters to follow. An example would be: comput? This would find computer, computing, computational, computers, etc. This is a fast way to search for plurals or related words. The truncation symbols used by individual databases will vary. The database Help screen will tell you which symbol to use.
In searching, truncation means that the system will allow wildcards to extend a search term. For example, a truncated term with a wildcard, such as app*, will retrieve all entries that begin with app, from apples to application. See Wildcard.
A symbol which can be used as a substitute for any string of characters (zero or more characters) when searching on a database. Very useful for retrieving plurals and other extensions of a word. For example when searching on Humanities Index the * is the truncation symbol. e.g. sail* will retrieve sail, sails, sailor, sailoring, sailors, sailing, sailed, sailcloth etc.
A search technique where the user can broaden the search by entering the root part of a word and abbreviating it with (usually) an asterisk * For example a search using garden* would return results containing the words garden, gardener, gardeners, gardens etc.
the process of shortening or cutting off part of a search term so that it will match related terms starting with the same stem, e.g. comput* will match computers, computing, computational, etc. The LIS database guides give information about how truncation works in each database.
The method of using a special symbol at the end of a word to retrieve the stem or the root and all possible endings of that word. To truncate a word while searching ZipLINK or OhioLINK, use an asterisk (*). In other databases, the question mark (?), the pound sign (#), or the dollar sign ($) can be used to truncate terms. In ZipLINK, entering comput* will retrieve compute, computes, computing, computer, computers, and so on.
An electronic database search strategy in which a character (determined by the database) can be substituted for various endings of the stem of a word (e.g. myth? retrieves mythology, mythological, mythical, etc.) (Unit 4 A Primer on Databases and Catalogs)
In database searching, the addition of a symbol at the end of a word so the computer will look for all variations of the word. Common truncation symbols include "?" and "*", but databases vary. If you write "famil?" in JYKDOK, the computer will find "family", "families”, “familiar" etc.
Cutting a search term at its root to retrieve words with different endings. For example, architect# would lead to architect, architects, architecture and architectural. The truncation symbol varies from system to system.
Typing a specific symbol at the end of a word to retrieve all possible endings of that word. Different databases have different truncation symbols. This also includes shortening or cutting off part of a keyword ( the root word ) so that it will match with all terms starting with the same root (or stem). ( Example: comput* will match with computer, computers, computerize, computing, etc. ) Frequently used symbols for truncation include the asterisk (*), the pound sign (#), or the questions mark (?). Check the HELP section in the database for specific guidelines.
The method of using a symbol to instruct the computer to search variant word spellings. For example, the question mark is often used as a truncation symbol, so to locate books on both ecology and ecologists, type the word as: ecolog?.
using the root word with a truncation symbol in an online search to find all items containing that root and different endings. (Ex. word* (in certain databases) would find word, words, wording, etc.)
In electronic searching, truncation is the cutting short of search term(s) in order to retrieve all items sharing a common root. For example, the truncation "librar*" would retrieve libraries, library, librarian, librarians, library science, etc.
A method of shortening a search term to enable retrieval on variants of the same term, eg. using the search term "econom" in conjunction with an appropriate truncation symbol (such as *, ?, or $) will retrieve material containing the words "economy, economies, economic, economical".
a method of expanding the results of an online search by searching the root of several words. Searching on “comput?†will result in hits on computer, computer, computing, for example.
Typing a special symbol at the end of a word to retrieve all possible endings of that word. For example, if you wish to truncate a word while searching Research II you may use the question mark (?); other databases may use the pound sign (#), the asterisk (*), or another symbol.
The ability to retrieve records of search terms that share a common root. In each database, some sort of symbol (a colon, an asterisk, a dollar sign) is placed at the end of the group of letters forming the root search term. Use the longest root possible to increase the accuracy of your search.
Adding a symbol to the root of a word allows retrieval of all variant endings. In Nexis, for instance, child! retrieves child, childs, children, childrens, childhood, etc. Peak, the Library Catalog: Peak, the Library Catalog: * Nexis: ! SilverPlatter: * or ? (see online help screens for more information about the use of each truncation symbol) FirstSearch (for plurals and possessives only): + Dialog@CARL
a technique in online searching that allows broader retrieval with a textword search. Commonly, right-handed truncation is available. A search for infect$ might retrieve "infect", "infects", "infecting", "infectious", "infected", and so on. Some systems allow internal truncation: wom?n would retrieve "woman" and "women". Truncation symbols and techniques vary among online systems, so consult a librarian or the online help for details on a specific online system.
Allows a character (the character varies widely from system to system and might be a ?, #, *, :, etc.) to be placed at the beginning or end of a stem, thus instructing the computer to search for the stem string no matter where it occurs in a word. For example, ?electric would produce items containing the word hydroelectric, piezoelectric, and electric, among others, while electric? would produce items containing the words electric, electrical, electricity, etc. In some systems, truncation can be refined by the addition of a number. For example, nation:2 would return only those items containing words with up to two additional characters on the stem word: nation, nations, national, but not nationality. In other systems, the truncation can occur at either end. On the Internet, truncation may occur by default; hence a search on edi might produce medical and edited as well as edi. Related to masking.
In a search, the ability to enter the first part of a keyword, insert a symbol and retrieve all possible endings of that word. For example, child* retrieves child, children, childhood, etc.
In a search, the ability to enter the first part of a keyword, insert a symbol (usually *), and accept any variant spellings or word endings, from the occurrence of the symbol forward. (E.g., femini* retrieves feminine, feminism, feminism, etc.) Which search engines have this
A conscious shortening of the search string, e.g., 1) In keyword searching: the shortening of a word or phrase in an online search in order to retrieve variant forms of that word; in OSCAR this is accomplished by using the asterisk (*); 2) In title searching: entering only the first few words rather than the entire title; OSCAR automatically assumes truncation
A wildcard character used in many databases to search variations of a suffix. The most frequently used truncation characters are *, ?, and $. If used on the end of a word your search would retrieve citations having different endings to the original word searched.
A searching technique that may result in a larger number of records to examine. Substituting a question mark for an 's' in a keyword search will automatically locate the singular and plural of that word. A search for computer? finds "computer," "computers," as well as "computerization." Truncation also works to find variant spellings of words, as in a search for col?r, which will find "color" and "colour." Warning: different databases use different truncation symbols.
A search technique used that allows for searching of variant spellings and word endings through the use of specific symbols (may be different for different databases).
Truncation allows you to search for a term and its variations by entering only the root of the term followed by an asterisk *. Use the truncation symbol only at the end of a term. See also wildcard (# or ?).
The removal of letters from the end of a word, or series of words. Often a word is truncated to a common stem and a wildcard character is added.
to shorten a word by dropping off one or more letters (usually after the root of the word) in an effort to search multiple forms of a word simultaneously.
The phenomenon in which you cut off the end of a word when creating a search expression. When given such a request, a search engine will look for all possible endings to the word, in addition to the root word itself.
cutting off the (right) end of a word or term, such as when a searcher askes for "inform*" to locate all words with "inform" as a prefix
stemming or shortening a word to pick up variations. Most search tools allow you to use an asterisk (*) to pick up variant word forms. ("adolesc*" would pick up the words "adolescent," "adolescents" and "adolescence")
Also referred to as "root/suffix management" or "Stemming" or "Word Stemming", truncation allows some search engines to recognize and shorten long words such as "plants" or "boating" to their root words (or word stems) "plant" and "boat." This makes searching for such words much easier because it isn't necessary to consider every permutation of that word when trying to find it. In a search, the ability to enter the first part of a keyword, insert a symbol (usually *), and accept any variant spellings or word endings, from the occurrence of the symbol forward (e.g., femini* retrieves feminine, feminism, feminism, etc.). See also word variants, plurals and singulars.
Truncation is a technique for searching all the variations of a word. For example Teach* will bring you teaches, teachers, teaching, teacher. Some symbols of truncation are * or #.
To replace the final letter (or letters) in a search term with a symbol (such as *) to broaden the results of the search. The computer will find all words that begin with the letters remaining. For example, "teach*" could find records with all these words: teach, teacher, teaches, teaching, and teachable.
In a search, the ability to enter the first part of a keyword, insert a symbol and retrieve all possible endings of that word. The JCC Book Catalog and Infotrac use the asterisk (*), other databases may use other symbols ( ?), ( #), ($).
If you want to search for part of a word or a whole word that may have several endings, use an asterisk (*) as a "wildcard." Example: "child*" will search for "child" and "children."
The shortening or cutting off part of a keyword. The keyword is shortened so that it will match with all terms starting with the same stem, e.g. librar* will match with library, libraries, librarian, librarianship, etc.
In computer searches, you may use a symbol (often an asterisk) to shorten or "truncate" a word to retrieve a root word and any ending; for instance, truncat* will retrieve truncate, truncated, truncation, etc. Choose carefully which words to truncate.
In computer searching, the technique of using a symbol with a word stem to make the computer retrieve various forms of the word. Example : In Minerva, the keyword search violin* will retrieve violin, violins, and violinist.
to "cut off" word endings in order to find related words with different endings
Dropping the end of words or names to fit an address line into 30 characters for four-across Cheshire addressing.
In database or Internet searching, to cut the search term short to retrieve all terms with a common root. Example: If looking for articles on assessment, you would truncate to assess*. This would tell the database to search for all terms beginning with the letters assess, such as assess, assesses, assessing, assessed, assessment, etc.
when you shorten a word and add a wildcard such as and asterisk (*) in order to extend your search to variations of the word. Example: govern* to find governing and government. Go To
A technique using a shortened form of a search term to retrieve documents containing all variants of the term. Example: librar* This search uses truncation to retrieve: library, libraries, librarian, librarians, librarianship
a symbol included in the middle or at the end of a word to include possible variations in spelling and alternate endings when searching an electronic database. For example, if searching for information on society, you could enter the phrase "societ?" to search society, society's, societies, and societal. Common truncation symbols include *, ?, and #. It is best to consult the help guide for each database when searching.
Use of the first few letters of a word as a search term in information retrieval.
A shortened version of a search term. In some search engines and databases, the root of a word plus a wild card symbol (such as an asterisk or a question mark) can be used to search all possible variations of the word. See also wild card. up to directory
