Truncation is a way to search for a root word and all variant endings of that word. For example child* would search for children and child and child's. To use truncation, simply type in the root word and an asterisk (*).

• The following is a search for dog without using truncation. The catalog will just look for the word "dog." Notice the catalog found 1679 library items.

• In the search below, we used truncation by adding an asterisk (*)to the end of dog. This time the catalog found more records - 2645 library items.

• Truncation will pick up all variant endings of dog, including dogs and dogged. Be careful when you use truncation; you may not want to see all of these items. For instance, dogma has nothing to do with dogs, but if you use truncation, the library catalog will show you items about dogma too.
• Truncation is useful when you need both the singular and plural of a word (dog, dogs).
• You can use truncation in a Boolean search: dog* and breed.