Google Scholar Tools Tips and Tricks Ben Hockenberry

Google Scholar Tools, Tips, and Tricks Ben Hockenberry Systems Librarian SJFC Lavery Library 1

In this Session, We’ll Answer: • • What’s in Google Scholar (GS)? What are the pros and cons of using it? How do I search GS? How do I narrow my results? How do I link to Library Resources? How do I find related results? How does reference management software work with GS? What else can I do with it? 2

What’s in Google Scholar? • Articles • Theses • Books and book chapters • Abstracts • Court opinions • Technical reports • Conference papers • …and much more 3

What’s in Google Scholar? These resources are gathered from “academic publishers, professional societies, online repositories, universities and other web sites. ” 1 A 2009 study found Google Scholar, on average, 17. 6 percent more scholarly than materials found only in library databases. 2 This is a relevant tool that should be understood. 4

Pros and Cons The Good The Bad • High number of journals • Keyword searching in many articles • Broad array of resources, with comparable “scholarliness” to subscription databases • Powerful “cited by” tool • Full coverage unknown, as GS doesn’t publish a list of sources • Few search options—can’t limit by source type • Peer-review indeterminate • Limited information about articles (metadata) • Citations from non-journals may skew “cited” counts 5

“Advanced” Searching • Google has made a name for themselves with intelligent search results – a keyword search gets you far. • Click the down arrow from the search box to see advanced options. More tips: http: //scholar. google. com/intl/en/scholar/refinesearch. html 6

“Advanced” Searching • You can use these search boxes to get to a specific article, to find articles published in the last five years, or to make a subject search more exact. More tips: http: //scholar. google. com/intl/en/scholar/refinesearch. html 7

Narrowing Results • A results page looks like this: • There are not many “limiters, ” but limiting by date is very useful. • You can remove patents or citation-only results from your list. • If you see many irrelevant articles, use a “-” sign before a term in your search to remove results that contain that keyword. Example: [potter –harry] • You can set up an email “alert” for new articles published about your search topic right from this screen 8

Full-text and Library Links • For many “open access” resources in Google Scholar, clicking the title will get you to full-text. • If there’s no full-text, or if a site asks you to pay for access, look for access elsewhere through open access sources or Library Links. • If not, there may be a PDF link on the right. • Otherwise, use a Library Link! 9

Full-text and Library Links • The library link, labeled “Get it @ Fisher, ” should display automatically if you’re in a campus academic building. • If you’re off-campus or in a dorm, you may need to set up a library link – click the icon to add a library link. • In this screen, search for St. John Fisher College, select the Get it @ Fisher option, and click Save. • Detailed instructions to set this up are at http: //libguides. sjfc. edu/googlescholar 10

Finding “Related” Results • In a results screen, you can click “Cited by” to see articles in the future that cite the article you’re looking at. • The “Related articles” link is a little less clear: “It finds documents similar to the given search result. ” 1 • This appears to find articles with similar keywords and cited references – but Google doesn’t say what it is. 11

Reference Management • Zotero users can gather basic citation data from a result list using the Firefox, Chrome or Safari addons. • End. Note or Ref. Works users can set an option by clicking the Settings “gear” and selecting a Bibliography Manager option. You’ll then see an “Import into” link in your results list. • The automatically-generated citation data may be very inaccurate: please review your bibliography data to ensure it’s consistent with citation standards. 3 12

There’s More? • Google Scholar, thanks to its citation index, has become a powerful tool for academics to track their publications. • More information about Google Scholar’s author and journal metrics, check out http: //scholar. google. com/intl/en/scholar/metrics. html 13

Image: http: //www. flickr. com/photos/nagy/195726977/ CC-SA License Because it’s Google, after all… LET’S DIVE RIGHT IN 14

What I’m working on… I’m working on a paper for Philosophy Day on the topic of Aaron Swartz’s bulk download of JSTOR articles. • I have enough news and popular sources– need scholarly stuff • Topic is really current • I don’t want to dwell on his death Aaron Swartz, 2011, from http: //www. flickr. com/phot os/creativecommons/31110 21669/ 15

I’m going to try Google Scholar. • • I tried a few library databases first Maybe I didn’t get the results I want Maybe I want to find more Let’s see what we can find! 16

What I’m working on… • What keywords should use? • What limiters should I use? • How do I get the articles? Aaron Swartz, 2011, from http: //www. flickr. com/phot os/creativecommons/31110 21669/ 17

Resources More info on Google Scholar and Open Access Sources: 1. Research Guide: http: //libguides. sjfc. edu/googlescholar 2. Power. Point on Open Access Resources: http: //citadel. sjfc. edu/staff/bhockenberry/documents/OA_ Resources_and_Search. pptx (linked at the above Research Guide) 18

References 1. http: //scholar. google. com/intl/en/scholar/about. html 2. Howland, J. L. , Wright, T. C. , Boughan, R. A. , & Roberts, B. C. (2009). How scholarly Is Google Scholar? A comparison to library databases. College & Research Libraries, 70(3), 227– 234. 3. Jacsó, P. (2010). Metadata mega mess in Google Scholar. Online Information Review, 34(1), 175 -191. doi: 10. 1108/14684521011024191 19