Internet Search: Search Google Scholar @ OCC

What is Google Scholar?
Google Scholar helps you search for scholarly articles, papers, and books with the same simple, quick technology as the familiar Google search engine.  It can also identify books and articles available in Oakland Community College and other nearby libraries.

What is the scope of Google Scholar?
You'll find works from a wide variety of academic publishers and professional societies, as well as scholarly articles available across the web.  Actually, we do not know the full scope because Google does not detail what is covered.   There are some "gaps in publisher archives "1 and current materials may not have been added.  Scholar is best in the fields of science and technology and for materials available online.

What does "Cited By" mean?
Clicking on the "Cited By" link in Google Scholar search results will take you to a list of sources which cite the original source in their footnotes, Works Cited (bibliography), or hyperlinks.  This is a way to find more recent commentary on the topic of the original source.

Some Google Scholar are asking me to pay to see full text.  What should I do?
Never pay to see full text materials through Google! Look for result links that say Find it @OCC to see if it is available through Oakland Community College or another local library.

What if I have other questions?
Contact an Oakland Community College Librarian.

To make sure you will be able to link to full-text resources available through OCC, use the "Search Google Scholar Now" link above and login with your MyOCC ID and password if asked.

Otherwise, if you are off-campus you may have to follow these steps:

• At the Google Scholar search page, select Settings from the upper right corner.
• Select Library Links, on the left of the screen and type Oakland Community College & click the Find Library button.
• Check the boxes for Oakland Community College - Find it @OCC  and Open Worldcat.
• Click the Save button.

The Find it@OCC link connects you to full-text articles in all OCC research databases when they are available.

When you click on a Find it@OCC link from off-campus, you will be prompted to enter your MyOCC ID and password, the same you use to login to Online Services or D2L.  If you receive a security certificate warning, it is safe to continue to the site.  This is a known issue and will not harm your computer.

Benefits

• Easy to Use:
• Same interface as Google search engine
• keyword searching
• Can search multiple databases and library catalogs at the same time
• Includes a variety of materials: books (some full text), articles, websites
• Links to both free articles and full text articles in databases OCC purchases
• Show citations to articles and also a list of others citing that article
• Sorts by relevancy, with the "best" results at the top of results list
• Provides a good overview of resources on a topic  

Drawbacks

• Limited search capabilities
• No standardized subject headings
• The databases searched are not identified
• Cannot limit to material type, such as journal or book
• Results cannot be sorted by date, author, title, or publication
• Google Scholar updates are not dated; the most recent materials may not display
• The comprehensiveness of the "cited by " lists is questionable
• Ranking is based in part on how often a source has been quoted, so older sources tend to rank higher