Google Scholar

Table of Contents

http://scholar.google.com/

Google Scholar (nicknamed "Schoogle") is a new free Web service that finds citations to scholarly articles, papers, and books using the simple, speedy, and popular Google technology. It can search for and link to the full text of articles. It can identify books and a nearby library containing a copy. Like most bibliographic resources, it can point you to materials you might not have found otherwise.

Consider This When Using Google Scholar

"I like the way Google Scholar finds books in nearby libraries." Yes, but . . .

If you like this feature, then check out a library database called WorldCat. It does the same thing, but it includes many more useful items, gives more complete item descriptions, and has easy-to-use yet powerful search options. These features are especially useful for finding music quickly and easily. Also, WorldCat has an InterLibrary Loan feature that works. (WorldCat is has a much more robust and easy-to-use search for finding music.)

"I like the way Google Scholar finds books at UConn." Yes, but . . .

Google Scholar is convenient (and will improve), but remember that only a fraction of UConn's materials are in Google or Schoogle. HOMER lists everything. Also, when it comes to music, HOMER offers superior search and display capabilities.

"It's great that I can find journal articles and link to the full text." Yes, but . . .

This feature indeed has strong potential and is already useful, but please remember the following:

Articles are NOT free.
Many users must use their own personal subscription accounts to access the articles. UConn has has e-subscriptions to some titles, so UConn students, faculty, and staff can indeed access some of those articles from Google or Schoogle, but the user must either be on campus or by using proxy accounts when off-campus.

UConn's databases have full-text articles (not in Google Scholar).
You can find citations in Google Scholar, but links to full-text articles do not always work, or there may not be any links. Those same articles may be available through the library's electronic and print subscriptions. Go to the eJournal Locator and HOMER to look up specific journal titles. Also search UConn's drama and music databases to find hundreds of additional article citations and links to full text.

"Google Scholar is so easy. Just type and go." Yes, but . . .

While Google Scholar is attractive in its simplicity, it currently offers no way to focus your search. Ultimately, this wastes your time and keeps you from finding material most suited to your needs. Library databases such as RILM, Music Index, JSTOR, and HOMER (the library catalog) have sophisticated features that allow more precise searching. For example, in RILM you can limit your search by broad classification (e.g., theory, pedagogy, or history), date, or publication type (dissertation, review, book, or article). You can use specialized (standardized) musical terms, search specific fields (e.g., journal title), and display and manipulate information in a variety of ways.

"Google Scholar tells me who else cited this source!" Yes, but . . .

This is a nifty feature (and is often critical in research), but Google Scholar's "Cited By's" are startlingly incomplete. Specialized library databases find significantly more "cited by" references and have powerful search and display features. (We have not yet compared results to see if Google Scholar finds additional cites.) Here is more information about citation indexes in the arts.

"I love how Google Scholar lists everything all in one place." Yes, but . . .

One-stop shopping sounds great, and the UConn Libraries will someday offer a similar service. Indeed, Google Scholar allows users to search across some full-text databases or sites at once (e.g., JSTOR, Project Muse, and some publisher sites). That is handy, even if the searches are crude. It is also convenient to just "pop into" Google Scholar and run a quick search. This sort of activity can be part of an effective search strategy involving both Google Scholar and subscription databases. Just remember that Google Scholar does not list everything (not even close!), and it may not have the best materials for your needs. Specialized databases are often the better choice for specialized needs.

"I can do all my research with Google Scholar now!" Yes, but . . .

Google Scholar finds some materials that you might not have found otherwise. Still, caveat emptor.

Google Scholar omits many significant resources.
Google Scholar excludes many resources (e.g., many full text articles, plus citations to thousands of additional articles, books, essays, etc.) and does not indicate what is included (e.g., dates covered, publishers, etc.). Preliminary tests in the library show that Google Scholar is NOT retrieving a good amount of material. Try comparing author and title searches in Google Scholar and specialized music databases. The omissions are stunning. See Schoogle reviews below for more information. (Schoogle's scope notes and content will probably improve over time.)

Google Scholar is just one starting point.
Google Scholar holds much potential and may find useful material, but it does NOT replace HOMER or specialized bibliographic databases. You will miss too much otherwise. "Relying exclusively on any single source is not recommended. Rigorous academic research requires thorough searching across databases, varying your search strategy to include synonyms and alternate spellings of keywords, utilizing appropriate subject headings supplied by the database, and understanding the breadth and depth of literature indexed by each database. The library's databases have been carefully selected to provide comprehensive, retrospective and timely access to scholarly literature" (from Google Scholar vs. Library Databases at Oberlin, accessed December 10, 2004).

Remember:

To find library journals: eJournal Locator and HOMER
To search library databases: drama, music, or all

Google Scholar Search Strategies

Prefixes. Try using prefixes to limit your terms to a particular field. (Results are spotty.) This section may be obsolete since Google Scholar has added new search boxes.

Example: author:antokoletz.
To find articles on a given topic, add relevant keywords to the search. E.g., author:antokoletz bartok

author:
intitle:
site: (Example site: blackwell-synergy.com. Be careful. You may need the complete domain name. Also, some information providers have more than one server. You may need the domain name for each.)
URL:
journal: (This may not be a real search, but sometimes it works.)

Resource Discovery. Use Google Scholar to identify books, articles, Web pages, publishers, and library resources that you might not have found otherwise. ALSO consult library catalogs and databases since they are more comprehensive and organized (they are often the better starting point).

Full-Text Searching. Library databases (each containing some full-text journals) and publishers' journal Web sites have better full-text searching, but for searching full-text across several journal titles, Google Scholar may be the better bet for now. This will change as "federated" searching across titles becomes available in libraries.

Find Books at UConn and in Other Libraries. TAKE NOTE: Google and Google Scholar only have a few books listed so far and they don't display the items' complete descriptions. For faster and more complete results, search HOMER and WorldCat.

Still, Google and Google Scholar will improve on all fronts. If you want a preview of things to come, go to Google Scholar, search for a book, then click on its title. Enter your zip code. You will see a list of nearby libraries containing the books (broaden the list by clicking on "regional"). UConn will also be listed if it has the book. Click on the institution's name then search its catalog to find the call number, library location, and circulation status. (Note: WorldCat does all of these things but is more complete and has a powerful, easy-to-use search engine that is especially useful when searching for music.)

Google Scholar's Sources

Below are some library services and publishers known to be participating in Google Scholar.

Open WorldCat Program

[Selectively] makes records of library-owned materials in OCLC's WorldCat database available to Web users on popular Internet search, bibliographic and bookselling sites. Here is a link to the "real" WorldCat (more complete and robust).

CrossRef Search Pilot

“The purpose of the Pilot, which will run during 2004, is to determine the value to the scholarly community of a free, federated, full-text, interdisciplinary, interpublisher search focused on the peer-reviewed scholarly literature” (pilot Web site). “In partnership with Google search technologies, participating publishers’ Web sites will offer search results that link to content via digital object identifiers (DOIs) or URLs. Publishers’ full-text content also will show up in results in the main Google.com index” (Library Journal Academic News Wire, 11 May 2004). The pilot includes at least five publishers of music journals: Blackwell Publishing, Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Taylor & Francis, and University of California Press. This represents at least twenty-five scholarly music journals.

Reviews and Articles

This page was found at http://www.lib.uconn.edu/music/schoogle.html

Music/Drama Library