Wildcards

Wildcards are symbols used in database searchs to represent a letter or letters in a word. 

Wildcards can be useful when searching for information because they enable different forms or spelling of a word to be searched similtaneously.

Frequently used wildcard symbols include the question mark (?), the pound/hatch symbol (#) or the asterisk (*).

Different databases use different wildcard symbols so it is important to check the database 'Help' information or 'Search Tips' for details about which symbol to use.

For example, in Ebsohost databases: use ? to find one character only, or # to find one or more characters. For example:

• wom?n will search for information containing the words woman or women
• hum#r will search for information containing the words humor or humour.

See also truncation symbols.