New Google Tool: Google Scholar

I noticed that the new Google Scholar site was announced a couple days ago, but it was not working when I tried to access it. I just remembered it, so I gave it a try, and sure enough it works now. Or more specifically, the website can be accessed, but does the functionality really work?

Essentially what Google has created is a search engine for articles. Looking for a published article on a topic? Google Scholar will help you find it. However, it stops there. Most of the articles that are found are either in books (which means you need to buy or borrow the book) or belong on sites that require authentication and some sort of subscription. If you are a University student, you can usually get to these sites using the Library website.

So I don’t know how useful the site really is. You might save yourself some time by just using the Library site’s search engine. I haven’t done any comparisons, so perhaps Google Scholar returns more accurate results, however you would still need to find those articles through the Library site if you want access to the full text.