The library database crash that made me read the help screens finally

Went to grab a research article for my history paper on Tuesday and the whole catalog just froze mid search. I sat there for 10 minutes refreshing, then realized I had never actually read the little tutorial popup that kept appearing. Turns out the advanced search has a wildcard function that would have saved me 30 hours of sifting through bad results. Now I use it every time, but I still wonder how many other days I wasted not clicking that tiny question mark icon. Has anyone else found a hidden feature in a tool they used for months without realizing?

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bennett.evan29d ago

Quit ignoring the help button. Seriously. Most people never touch it, then complain the software is bad. I found keyboard shortcuts in a program I used daily for a year, just by mashing keys out of boredom. Wildcards are one of those things that should be taught in school but never are. The real kicker is every database has them, they just hide it behind that little question mark. Glad you found it, but you probably missed ten other tricks in there too.