Do you ever find yourself overwhelmed by too much information or not enough? If so, you may want to consider using advanced search techniques such as boolean operators and truncation symbols. Truncation is a search technique used in databases where a word at the end is replaced by a symbol. This is very useful when you know that one of your search terms has multiple endings, but all variations represent basically the same idea. For example, searching in sport* would show variations such as sport, sports, sports, sports, etc.
Using truncation will help you complete your search faster, as you won't have to manually type and search every variation of the word. Different databases use different truncation symbols, so it is important to check the information in the database “Help” or “Search Tips” for details on which symbol to use. The asterisk cannot be used with less than two characters; to make it more relevant, type at least three characters before truncating it with *. Truncation symbols are abbreviated characters that can help include variations of the word from the text without having to type each variation in the search separately.
Truncation allows you to simultaneously search for different forms of a word and will increase the number of search results found. A search string is a combination of keywords, truncation symbols, and boolean operators that are entered into the search box of a library database or search engine. In addition to truncation symbols, there are other advanced search techniques that can be used to narrow down your results. These enhancers include boolean operators, wildcards, phrase search, and nesting.
By using these techniques together with truncation symbols, you can quickly and easily find the information you need. For example, if you are researching the effects of poverty on secondary education, you can use truncation symbols to quickly find variations of words related to your topic. You can also use boolean operators and wildcards to narrow down your results even further. By combining these techniques together, you can quickly and easily find the information you need without having to manually type and search every variation of the word.
Truncation symbols are an invaluable tool for anyone who needs to quickly and easily find information online. By using these symbols in combination with other advanced search techniques such as boolean operators and wildcards, you can quickly and easily find the information you need without having to manually type and search every variation of the word.
