A good compouter system will have a way to cross-check bad spelling. The one we put in in 1989 we programmed with such things as "Dec" and "Desember" crossed to "December" and "Feburary" to "February." There is, however, no way that we could figure all possible spelling variations.

As for searching "sew clothes," did you try "sew" or "sew*"? Were you searching a keyword search or one that required exact matches? Title or Subject index? (And libraries had split their card catalogs into seperate Author, Title, Subject catalogs for a very, very long time.)

It would also help if I knew which automation system was being used -- some are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than others.

Of course, if all else fails, ask a librarian. I promise that we won't call the media about your question.