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Google Scholar Basics: Google Scholar Basics

Learn how to set up Google Scholar to link to USD Libraries resources

Google Scholar Basics

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What is Google Scholar?

Google Scholar is a way to search across the scholarly literature. It is an index of articles, theses, books, abstracts and court opinions from a broad array of disciplines.  Much (though not all) of it is peer-reviewed content.  

Not all of the content in the index is available as free full text, often you will be asked to pay for access.  However, by linking Google Scholar with the University of South Dakota Library, you can obtain most of what you find for free through our databases or through interlibrary loan.

Setting Google Scholar up to work with the University of South Dakota Library

1.) Go to Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/

2.) Click on the cog next to Settings above the search box:

 

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3.) Click on Library Links (left side of screen). Next, enter University of South Dakota into the search box and click on the magnifying glass (or hit the Enter key) to search. Enter a checkbox next to University of South Dakota and then click the Save button.

 

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4.) Perform a search. You will now see that some results that have a "U. Get It--text" on the right. Click here to access full text articles available through the Library's subscriptions.

 

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5.) Search for articles by title: To see a demonstration of how to search in Google Scholar for an article by title, click here. This is a great way to obtain articles based on information from citations or a bibliography.

 

6.) Interlibrary Loan. If you do not see the "U. Get It--text" link, click on "More", then "U. Get It--ILL & other" to request the article via another library. 

Google Scholar More Link

 

7.) Email alerts.  Note that you can create email alerts whenever a new article is added to Google Scholar that meets your search criteria.  After performing a search, click the "Create Alert" link in the left vertical menu.

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