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Google Scholar Quick Start

Online Library Home > Other Web Resources

Google Scholar is a tool for finding scholarly articles. It covers all subject areas and includes content from many publishers, as well as content that authors put up on the Web themselves.



Search Google Scholar

College login and password
are required


When should I use Google Scholar?
It's a great tool when you simply don't know what database is best to search for your topic. For example, your topic may encompass two or more disciplines, like the history of teaching evolution in schools.

Is everything in Google Scholar scholarly?
Despite the name, sometimes non-scholarly information creeps into Google Scholar. Look for the author's credentials and institutional affiliations. Find out whether the article has appeared in a scholarly journal. As always, you will have to use your own judgment when evaluating materials for reliability and credibility.
Click here for an explanation of scholarly versus non-scholarly resources.

How do I use Google Scholar?
  • If you know the article you want:
    +"this is the title" +"author's last name"
  • If you are searching by subject:
    +"word or phrase" +"another word or phrase" -"but not this word"
Google provides help pages.

Why should I access Google Scholar via the Online Library?
By logging in with your College username and password, you are "hooking up" the Google Scholar search engine to the Library's collection of databases. This is the only way for full text articles in our databases to appear in your search results.

screen shot of google scholar search


Although Google Scholar is a great tool, you will find that searching our databases individually will yield articles you'd never find any other way. Bear that in mind if you can't afford to miss an article! Return to navigation links

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