Did you know that Google Scholar can link into subscription databases, allowing you to use it as a federated search for databases like JSTOR and Science Direct? That you can import citations into Refworks or Endnote?
Just click the little Scholar Preferences link to the right of the search box. From there, you can change your language, add a library for full text subscriptions, change the results display, and choose a citation manager.
And don’t forget to check the Advanced Search as well. Advanced search allows you limit by subject (such as “Biology, Life Sciences, and Environmental Science”), which is really handy when you are searching for keywords that are used differently in different fields.
We’ve all gotten spoiled by the simple search interfaces available these days: a single keyword box with no frills. Just plug in some words and Poof! results show up. But most searches, both web search engines and database search interfaces, have advanced searching available as well, and you can save yourself a lot of time by learning to use them. In this post, I’m going to go over a few of the common features available in advanced searches and a few specific examples.
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While our Online Databases are great for finding articles (check your own library website if you aren’t from SCSU), they aren’t the only resources out there. There are a large number of open web, free-for-reading resources that are still high quality. Open Access sites are resources that are free to read, but may have costs for publishing. It’s essentially a business model, and is not incompatible with peer-review or other editorial standards that ensure high quality materials. Other sites may specialize in public domain works (works that have expired copyrights or were otherwise released from copyright restrictions and can be freely copied). Still others may allow free reading of certain materials but not others, using the free material essentially as advertising. I use the phrase “Open Web” to describe anything that does not require a password or membership to access, as a contrast to subscription databases, which you can only access on campus or via a login.
I’ll highlight a few sites for open web materials that are particularly good for academic work. There is a lot of junk on the web, but there are also a lot of very good resources. (more…)
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