What's in this article:
- Truncation: Finding Similar Spellings
- Wildcard: Multiple Character Searching
- Proximity: Finding Terms Used Together
Truncation: Finding Similar Spellings
You can find words with spellings similar to your search term by using the tilde (~) symbol at the end of a search term.
![SearchTruncation1.jpg](/hc/article_attachments/4420178091287/SearchTruncation1.jpg)
In the example above, search results include items with dostoyevsky in the item title field, as well as variant spellings such as dostoevsky, dostoievski, dostoevsky, dostoyevski, dostoevskii, dostoevski, etc.
Note: This way of searching encompasses a very large number of words. Narrowing this kind of search to the item title or another field is recommended. The first letter always remains the same.
Wildcard: Multiple Character Searching
Wildcards take the place of one or more characters in a search term. A question mark (?) is used for single character searching. An asterisk (*) is used for multiple character searching.
Wildcards are used to search for alternate spellings and variations on a root word. Wildcard characters cannot be used in place of the first letter of a word or within an exact phrase search, and word roots must contain at least three letters preceding a wildcard. For example:
![Wildcard1.jpg](/hc/article_attachments/4420185368599/Wildcard1.jpg)
![Wildcard2.jpg](/hc/article_attachments/4420171363223/Wildcard2.jpg)
![Wildcard3.jpg](/hc/article_attachments/4420185375127/Wildcard3.jpg)
![Wildcard4.jpg](/hc/article_attachments/4420185380759/Wildcard4.jpg)
![AdvancedSearchMenu.jpg](/hc/article_attachments/4420185385623/AdvancedSearchMenu.jpg)
Advanced Search Tips:
- The root word for any wildcard search must contain at least three letters preceding a wildcard, so for example," sm&th" will not return results, but "run&" will.
- To limit your results to content in a specific language, use the Library of Congress's three letter MARC language codes
Proximity Searching: Finding Terms used Together
JSTOR search allows you to find terms that are within a set number of words of each other. In Basic Search, use the tilde (~) symbol followed by a number to set the desired proximity.
![Proximity1.jpg](/hc/article_attachments/4420171447831/Proximity1.jpg)
In this example, your search will return results with the terms debt and forgiveness within ten words of each other.
So, whereas a search for "debt forgiveness" within quotation marks will give you search results for that exact phrase, a search for debt forgiveness~10 will give you results that include both the words "debt" and "forgiveness" within 10 words of each other.
In Advanced Search, use the Boolean drop-down boxes to combine search terms with NEAR 5/10/25. The NEAR operator looks for the combinations of keywords within 5, 10, or 25 words places of each other.
![ScienceNear5Education.jpg](/hc/article_attachments/4420171457559/ScienceNear5Education.jpg)
The NEAR operator only works when searching for single keyword combinations. For example, you may search for cat NEAR 5 dog, but not "domesticated cat" NEAR 5 dog.
You may increase the importance of any term in your search by using the caret (^) symbol followed by a number that represents the rise in relevance.
![ImportanceSearch.jpg](/hc/article_attachments/4420178222103/ImportanceSearch.jpg)
In the example of migration^7 geese, an occurrence of the word migration in an item is seven times more important than the word geese.