Using the Spell Checker

The spell checker helps you verify the spelling of the word or words you want to search for, and offers suggestions for misspelled words. The spell checker is a convenient way to catch spelling errors in ordinary words. However, you may want to ignore suggestions for certain searches. For example, many authors' names are not contained in the spell checking dictionary. The spell checker may alert you that a name is misspelled when it is actually correct. As another example, some titles may contain words that are deliberately misspelled. The spell checker flags these words as misspelled. In any case, you can ignore the suggestions and use your original term in the search.

Objective: Use the spell checker

Follow these steps to use the spell checker.

1. Click Search on the menu bar, and select Keyword, Browse, Phrase, or Exact in the Search submenu.
2. Type the search text (one or more words) in the search for box.
3. Click Spelling Help in the search bar.

   The Spelling Help dialog box is displayed. The text you typed in the search for box is displayed in the Phrase box.

4. Do one of the following actions:
   • To launch a search on the word or words in the Phrase box without spell-checking, click Start Search and skip the rest of this procedure.
   • Type a different word or words in the Phrase box. To launch a search on the new text without spell-checking, click Start Search and skip the rest of this procedure. To place the new text in the search for box on the search bar without spell-checking, click Copy and Close. (This option allows you to make further settings on the search bar before launching the search.)
   • To spell-check the word or words in the Phrase box, click Check Spelling.

     Polaris checks the spelling of the word or words in the Phrase box. Multiple words are checked one by one. If a word is not listed in the dictionary, the word is highlighted in the Phrase box and the Suggestions list is displayed.

     The Suggestions list offers possible alternative words. The first suggestion also displays in the Change to box.

Note:
If no errors are found, the Spelling Help dialog box displays a message. Click Start Search to launch a search on the text in the Phrase box, or click Copy and Close to place the text in the search for box on the search bar and close the Spelling Help dialog box. (Click Cancel to close the Spelling Help dialog box without further action.)

5. Do one of the following actions:
   • If you want to ignore the spelling error, click Ignore.

     If a single word is in the Phrase box, the Spelling Help dialog box displays a message that the spell check is complete. If multiple words are in the Phrase box, the spell checker proceeds to the next word.

   • If you want to use the word in the Change to box, click Change.

     The new word is placed in the Phrase box.

   • If you want to display a different word in the Change to box, type a new word in the box, or select the word you want in the Suggestions list. Then click Change.

     The new word is placed in the Phrase box.

   • If you want spelling help with a new word or words, click New Phrase, type the text in the Phrase box, and click Check Spelling.

     When the spell check is complete, the Spelling Help dialog box displays a message.

6. Do one of the following actions:
   • To launch a search on the text in the Phrase box, click Start Search.
   • To place the text in the search for box on the search bar, click Copy and Close. (This option allows you to make further settings on the search bar before launching the search.)
   • Click Cancel to close the Spelling Help dialog box without further action.