You can use a wildcard * to stand for any letter or letters. This is really helpful whenever you are not sure how to spell a word. (* is an asterisk and you type it by pressing and holding down the SHIFT key and tapping the number 8 once.)

Check it out:

Let's pretend that you're trying to remember a large word that was used in class today, and the only thing you can remember is that it starts with pre- or precip-. No problem-- just type pre* in the search box!

The search engine will find all the documents that contain words that begin with pre, like precipitation, pressure, prehistoric.

And another thing... Remember that all search engines are different. AltaVista (www.altavista.com) will let you use the wildcard symbol like this:

wom*n -- to find women and woman.

But Google (www.google.com) and Lycos (www.lycos.com) won't allow you to use the wildcard-at least not at the time of this writing. That could change, however, so always check the "Searching Tips" provided by each search engine.

Let's try this search with NC WiseOwl. Quick tip: Print these directions before you link to the site.

(If you are asked for a password, type: wiseowl.)

1. Click on ENCYCLOPEDIAS on the NC WiseOwl home page.
2. Click the OPEN button underneath Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia.
3. Find the search box.
4. Type pre* in the search box and click on GO.
5. How many "hits" did you get? _____ Gazillions, right? Skim the titles and look for the different words that start with pre.
6. Now try this search: precip* Compare this number of documents found to the number from the last search. Skim the titles. Why are they so different?