diff --git a/lib/utilities/string_cleaner.rb b/lib/utilities/string_cleaner.rb
index 23ca5ee..ff1679e 100644
--- a/lib/utilities/string_cleaner.rb
+++ b/lib/utilities/string_cleaner.rb
@@ -26,14 +26,14 @@ def self.prefixes
 
   def self.strip_symbols(str)
     # str.gsub(/[\p{P}\p{Sm}\p{Sc}\p{So}^`]/, "")
-    str.gsub(/["'(){}\[\]]/, "")
+    str.gsub(/["']/, "")
   end
 
   # TODO: add bits to remove field prefix (e.g., 'author:') as defined in 00-catalog.yml
   # this is where the author browse specific cleaning goes
   def self.cleanup_author_browse_string(str)
     prefixes.each do |x|
-      if str.match?(/^#{x}:["(]/)
+      if str.match?(/^#{x}:/)
         str.sub!(/^#{x}:/, "")
         break
       end
diff --git a/spec/utilities/string_cleaner_spec.rb b/spec/utilities/string_cleaner_spec.rb
index 4b510b7..e4a240f 100644
--- a/spec/utilities/string_cleaner_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/utilities/string_cleaner_spec.rb
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 describe StringCleaner do
   context ".strip_symbols" do
     it "removes certain punctuation" do
-      expect(described_class.strip_symbols('"\'(){}[]')).to eq("")
+      expect(described_class.strip_symbols('"\'')).to eq("")
     end
   end
   context ".cleanup_author_browse_string" do
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
       expect(described_class.cleanup_author_browse_string('author:"Author Name"')).to eq("Author Name")
     end
     it "removes 'isn(' prefix" do
-      expect(described_class.cleanup_author_browse_string('isn:("123-456")')).to eq("123-456")
+      expect(described_class.cleanup_author_browse_string("isn:(123-456)")).to eq("(123-456)")
     end
   end
 end