Special Characters

Punctuation

When marks of punctuation are included in a search expression, the e-library either replaces the punctuation marks with spaces, or searches variations of the search expression containing the punctuation, or ignores the punctuation marks. To search a punctuation mark as a literal character, enclose the expression in quotation marks.

The e-library searches periods (.) based on how this punctuation mark displays in the search expression. If the period does not mark the end of a sentence or if the period is not used as a decimal mark within a numeral, the period is replaced with spaces. If the period is used as a decimal mark, it is not replaced with a space. For example, the title Vacationland U.S.A. will be searched as VACATIONLAND U S A.

Commas (,) are replaced within a search expression with a space. For example, the title Goodbye, Columbus, and Five Short Stories will be searched as GOODBYE COLUMBUS FIVE SHORT STORIES.

Search expressions containing hyphens (-) are searched with the hyphen included. A search without the hyphen displays words both with and without the hyphen. For example, the title Camp-fire Girls will be searched as CAMP-FIRE GIRLS. Only titles that include a hyphen between Camp and Fire will display. To broaden the search to include the phrase "Camp Fire" with and without the hyphen, use CAMP FIRE GIRLS.

The circumflex (^) is ignored in search expressions.

The following table contains additional special characters. These characters do not affect searching. Some of these characters are replaced by a space; some are ignored.