Mirofilms (for Microfilms)

There are 19 records in OhioLink that contain the typo Mirofilms, which puts it in the “high probability” section of the Ballard list. All 19 of the microfilm reels were published by University Microfilms, based out of Ann Arbor, Michigan. According to LC, “in 1971 University Microfilms changed its name to Xerox University Microfilms and, in 1976, to University Microfilms International.” UMI is now an imprint of ProQuest.

(Dona i Ocell (Woman and Bird) by Spanish Surrealist Joan Miró. Located in Barcelona.)

Janelle Fore

Irresistab* (for Irresistible, etc.)

This typo "is a powerful force; you're obliged to conform when there's no other course." There are 51 examples of Irresistab* in OhioLINK, making it "high probability" on the Ballard list. No wonder, since the suffix -ible is a variation of -able. Make over your library catalog from just plain "able" to "access-ible" by addressing this typo. Information seekers will surely find it "simply irresistible."

(Robert Palmer from allmusic.com.)

Janelle Fore

jutice for justice

This typo occurs 5 time in OhioLINK, though these typos may occur in your catalog:

jstu*
jsut*
justce
justise

"True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Julene Jones

sitution for situation

Though the typo "sitution" only occurs twice in Ohiolink, other possible typos for "situation" include situatin, situaition, and situtaion.

Perhaps this is why the term "sitrep" has come into more popularity. Not only is it easier to say, it is also easier to spell: The actors on the CBS show "The Unit" (shown below) use the phrase constantly!



Image from cbs.com

Julene Jones

excape for escape

Though the 1980's TV action hero MacGyver was able to escape from many tricky situations using paperclips and duct tape, your catalog may have not been able to avoid these problematic typos for "escape":

excape
ecape
esscape
eescape
rscape

The first typo has 11 occurrences in OhioLINK, the remaining have none.

Image from Google Images

Julene Jones

deliva* for delivery

Deliveries are common to libraries, though delivries, delliveries and delivaries should not be. Catch these using delivr*, delliver*, and deliva* respectively. However, you may want to limit your search returns to English only so as to not retrieve the French, "délivré."

Image from: http://www.sprout.net.au/ found by searching Google Images.

Julene Jones

hapen* (for happen, happened, happening, etc)

Perhaps you noticed the 2008 New York Times article attempting to flowchart the evolution of geeks. What occurs if you're exposed to Dungeons and Dragons "early in life"? Check the chart to see what happens (hapen*, happp* and happend* are possible variants).

hapen? is found twice in OhioLINK and happp? occurs 4 times.

Image from: http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2008/03/09/opinion/09opart2.ready.html

Julene Jones