Wildcard Searching
Applicable to indexed search fields and keyword search fields, including the Power Search field, Wildcard Searching is used to search for variations of index entries, words, or phrases, broadening your search.
To conduct a wildcard search, modify an index entry, word, or phrase to include a wildcard character in your search. Two wildcard characters can be incorporated into a search: the asterisk, "*," and the question mark, "?."
The Asterisk
Modifying an index entry, word, or phrase to include an asterisk representing any number of letters at the beginning or at the end broadens a search, retrieving results containing variations of the index entry selected or word or phrase typed based on the position of the asterisk. For example, typing art* into the Keyword Search field on the Search Grantmakers Screen will retrieve grantmaker records containing "art," "arts," "artists," and even "Arthur." Typing *art will retrieve grantmaker records containing words like "start," "heart," and "part."
The Question Mark
Modifying an index entry, word, or phrase to include a question mark representing any single letter or a series of question marks representing any series of letters at the beginning, at the end, or anywhere in between broadens a search, retrieving results containing variations of the index entry selected or word or phrase typed based on the position of the question mark(s). For example, typing wom?n into the Keyword Search field on the Search Grantmakers Screen will retrieve grantmaker records containing "women" and "woman." Typing psych????y will retrieve grantmaker records containing "psychology" or "psychiatry."
See the Search Tutorial section for step-by-step examples of searches using wildcards.
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