There are two techniques available to help you locate titles or abstracts using an owner name. If you are unsure of the correct spelling of a family name or firm name, you can either check the Include Names That Are Similar in Spelling box that is located directly below the Family Name field or use the wildcards.
NOTE: Wildcards can be used in any field (i.e., Firm or Family Name, Given Name, Phone Number, P.O. Box/Street, and City) but the Include Names That Are Similar option is only available for the Firm Name and Family Name fields.
You cannot use both techniques (Include Names That are Similar and wildcards) at the same time in the same field.
Include Names That Are Similar in Spelling box
When you check the Include Names That Are Similar in Spelling box, the system will search and retrieve any results with letter combinations that it recognizes as similar to the one that you keyed in the Firm Name or Family Name field (e.g. MacTavish-McTavish, Smyth-Smith, Lee-Lei). This is accomplished through a system that incorporates complex letter combinations and breaks them down through a phonetic routine in order to locate words of similar spelling and phonetics. This is a useful search technique when you are not sure of how to spell a name but are familiar with how it is pronounced.
Wildcards are another search technique that is available to help locate titles and abstracts by owner name. These wildcards are useful when searching a name when you do not know the exact spelling.