Post on 03-Jul-2015
description
Just It!
About Google Scholar
Google Scholar provides a familiar, user-friendly interface to conduct cross-discipline searches for scholarly literature.
Source: http://scholar.google.com/intl/en-US/scholar/about.html
Scholarly vs. Popular Resources
What’s the Difference?...
Scholarly vs. Popular
Scholarly
• Lengthy articles
• Fewer graphics
• Use technical language
• Give references
• Written by subject experts
Popular
• Shorter articles
• Lots of images
• Uses simple vocabulary
• References are rare
• Written by journalists
Why Google Scholar?
Uses a familiar interface
Free (some minor exceptions) and can be accessed from anywhere
Can link to your library’s subscription databases
More reliable results than Google or Wikipedia
Search across multiple disciplines simultaneously
Uses natural language
Beginning Your Search
Define your search terms
What are search terms and why are they needed?
Formulating your search
Combine terms with “AND” in the basic search or use the Advanced Search feature.
Google Scholar is less picky than databases, but why start bad habits now.
Test different search terms, and keep track of the ones you have tested.
Example Search…
Search terms:
Immigrants
Migrants
Refugees
Children
Kids
Youth
Juveniles
Adolescents
Citizenship
Citizens
Residents
Should undocumented children be granted citizenship?
Practice Makes Perfect…
Topic: Does capital punishment reduce violent crime?
Think about what search terms you might use for this topic
Don’t Stop at Google Scholar…
Google Scholar doesn’t have all the answers??? Well, in short No!
Disadvantages of Google Scholar include:
Difficulty narrowing down results
No option to search by full title
Defaults to sort by relevancy rather than publication date
Things You Should Know Now…
Why you might use Google Scholar
How to link Google Scholar to your library’s databases
Ways to brainstorm search terms
Executing and refining your search
Need More Help Searching?
You can: • Ask-A-Librarian • Text-A-Librarian• Call the library at:
982-5363 or 982-5364