Scholarly Search Engines
Stewart Library has access to over 230 article databases. That’s a small percentage of what’s available. The University of Utah, Utah State and BYU all have many databases that we do not.
You can walk into those libraries and use their databases (you can also use your Wildcard to checkout books.) However, unless you’re doing in-depth research for a senior thesis, capstone project or undergraduate research grant, you probably don’t need to head south (or north.)
Scholarly search engines can often fill in gaps in the subject content covered by Stewart Library’s databases. The two most useful ones are Google Scholar, and Pubmed. A third, Scirius, has unfortunately ceased operation. MicroSoft Academic Search has some nice features, but is currently dormant with only a small database to search. Wolfram Alpha works best for finding specific answers, especially in science & mathematics. It does not have the kind of articles you need to find for papers.
Google Scholar
Let’s look at Google Scholar first. Like Academic Search Premier, Google Scholar covers all fields.
- The first thing you need to do is to set Google Scholar up to link to Stewart Library articles.
- If you use the campus network, this is already done.
- For off-campus use, go to: https://library.weber.edu/researchandteaching/lib1704/Videos/GoogleScholar
- Once you’ve completed the setup, go directly to: http://scholar.google.com.
- Start by typing your research question (not your search statement) into the search box.
- If you aren’t finding many useful articles, try using a search statement.
- If you have access to the article via Stewart Library, there will be a link saying Full-text @ Weber State
- You may also be able to link to full articles elsewhere. Look for links that say something like: PDF from … Be careful that you have the full article. Some links go to draft versions.
- Can’t find a link? Try clicking on the versions link (for example: All 7 versions). You’ll find a link to the article just often enough to make it worth your time clicking the link.
Google Scholar has another useful feature: “cited by.” If you click on the cited by link, it takes you to a list of articles that use the original article you found in their works cited/bibliography/reference list. This is an easy way to find more articles related to your topic. For older articles, a large number of “cited by” references can be used as a rough indication of the importance of the article. The more the article is cited, the more important (usually) it is.
CAUTION: Google Scholar contains different types of sources. It is your responsibility to be able to tell the difference between a book, an article, a patent, etc. Google Scholar labels books [BOOK], but you’re on your own for articles and other types of sources. One type of source you may find is a white paper. White papers are not usually considered scholarly. Most are policy statements on a specific issue written by people who are experts in the field. However, they are not peer reviewed or refereed as a rule. White papers can be very valuable sources, but make sure your instructor accepts them. Ask, don’t just stick them in your reference list and cross your fingers. Professors in fields like political science, social work and sociology are more likely to accept white papers as sources.
Google Scholar does have an advanced search, but they’ve simplified it and unfortunately have dropped a number of useful limits.
To access information from the library, look for the Full text @ Weber State link. (These images date to a period before we changed the link name.)
Using Google Scholar.
Courtesy of Google.
Click on the Full-Text@Weber State. In most cases, this will take you directly to the article. Occasionally, the system won’t find the article and you’ll need to look it up. The information you need is on the right sidebar. If you haven’t signed in already, the system will prompt you for your WSU user name and password before letting you see the article.
The OneSearch linking page
Courtesy of JSTOR & Proquest
The linking system is good, but it is not 100% accurate. If you can’t find an important article, ask a librarian for other options.
CAUTION: If you consistently use Google Scholar (and regular Google) on the same computer, it brings up results that the system thinks you will like based on your previous searches. That means you might miss a really good article. The easy way to get around this is to use a school or work computer when you need to make sure you’ve got all possible sources. The less easy way is to clear your history, cookies, etc. You can also try a search engine that doesn’t track your searches, such as duckduckgo; however, it doesn’t list many scholarly articles.
PubMed
The second important scholarly search engine is Pubmed. Unlike Google Scholar, Pubmed focuses on the health sciences, which limits its usefulness in other fields. Pubmed does list historical articles, but they are related to the history of medicine. If you are writing a paper on Typhoid Mary or cholera and the westward movement or the Black Death, check Pubmed.
Pubmed has the full text of many articles available free of charge to everyone.
Accessing PubMed (PMC)
Courtesy NIH.
Searching PubMed (PMC)
Courtesy NIH
In most cases, you can find what you need on PubMed. However, if you want to search a broader range of articles, try PubMed/Medline. This database has some fulltext. You need to go through the Stewart Library link to see what’s available. PubMed/Medline is listed on the Article Databases page under “P” or the various “Health” subjects.
The scholarly search engines can be very useful back ups for the library databases; however, they do not replace library databases. In most cases, you need to start with library databases.
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