Have you ever been reading an opinion and noticed that "United States" has been misspelled as "Untied States?"  The typo probably makes you chuckle or cringe as you think of all the typos that you have made in the past. 

But think about it this way.  If you used "United States" as your search term, you would not find this reference.  In the case of "United States," your search probably will not suffer because that opinion probably has plenty of correctly spelled references to "United States."  But if you notice that a key search term is often misspelled or can be spelled different ways, you might want to adjust your search to include all possible spellings. 

Terry Bullard and Tina Gunther have put together a list of most common typographical errors in library databases and the list is fascinating. Check it out here.  Also, there is a blog devoted to the subject:    I hope that blog never has occasion to mention me! 

Thanks to Marylaine Block who always directs me to the neatest new stuff on the web!