What is truncation?
Truncation allows you to search a root word and any variant endings of that word, including plurals.
For example:
chief* - would find chief, chiefs, chiefdom, chiefdoms, etc.
migrat* - would find migrate, migratory, migration, etc.
Use truncation to avoid having to think of (and type out) all possible variations of a word.
NOTE: Be careful not to truncate too far to the left. A root like art* will retrieve many, many records!
What are wildcards?
Wildcards allow for variations of spelling within a word. They can be used to search for single letter variations of a word. This is especially useful for picking up both Canadian/UK and American spellings. For example:
colo?r - will find both color and colour
M?cArthur – will find both MacArthur and McArthur