Research Guides: SE 212: Human-Computer Interaction: How to Use Google Scholar

Search Google Scholar

Google Scholar - General Searching Information

What is a search string? A search string provides a search tool with the keywords needed to locate information on the Internet using a search engine or in an electronic database. The more specific and refined a search string becomes the better the search tool targets the information you need. Search strings may include negative elements, as well as positive elements to refine a search and make it more productive. Each search tool gathers information differently so searching using one tool will not yield the same results as searching another tool.

Searching Tips:
Although the techniques for searching vary greatly, most search engines and many databases accept the following search string techniques.

Use double quotation marks “ ” to search for a specific phrase. For example, a Google Scholar search for action research yields over two million results. A search for "action research" returns a quarter of that number. This is because Google, and most databases, returns results based on any and every combination of your search terms. By placing quotation marks around your search terms, you are asking for results that only include that exact phrase.

If you want only results from and educational institution, you can add the following to your search, asking Google to only return results from the edu domains: site:.edu. Notice that adding site:.edu to your "action research" string in the Google search box reduces the results to 295,000. A search string "tying" two words in a concept together AND narrowed by domain looks like this: "action research" site:.edu. (For more tips like this, see Google 's own Tips & Tricks page.)

Use operators like the "+" operator which assures your results include common words, letters or numbers which search technology generally ignores; the "-" operator which excludes all results that include this search term; the "OR" operator returns results that include either of your search terms, etc. Sometimes databases or search engines will use the Boolean terminology (AND, OR, NOT) instead of the +, - operators. Check the help screens to make sure which operators the database/search engine uses.

Use Advanced Search features to make your searches more precise and retrieve more useful results. Most search engines and databases default to the basic search screen, however nearly all also offer advanced searching. This type of search is particularly valuable when the searcher needs to limit the topic by date, format, language, and/or (sometimes) domain and document type.

Read and use the Help Menus to save time and frustration. If you are trying to complete search and just can’t seem to get relevant results, take a moment to read the help screens. They will direct you to searching devices and techniques which may be unique to that particular database or search engine. As stated above, not all search engines and databases accept or use the same limiters and truncation devices.

Use your browser’s features to help locate specific terms or phrases. If you retrieve a document either on the free Internet or in a subscription database in .html format, you can quickly scan the document for specific terms by using your browser’s “Find” feature. In the your browser click on the Edit menu and select Find/Find on this page (usually Control and F on a PC, or Command and F on a Mac) and enter a unique term or terms for which you are particularly interested. The browser displays the search boxes differently—Foxfire is located in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen whereas IE’s is a pop-up. Try a "Find" on this page to test this feature. Press Control-F or Command-F right now and in the resulting search box, enter Internet. You can see that you are able to locate all instances of the term Internet on this page very quickly!

Sample Search

Suppose I am interested in action research projects in educational technology. When I enter the entire phrase into the basic Google search sans quotes, I retrieve 279,000,000 hits. Applying quotation marks to the entire string “action research projects in educational technology” results in no hits. This is because I have narrowed the field too much (the engine is only looking for that particular phrase). I decide, then, to isolate the 2 two-term concepts “action research” “ educational technology” in the engine’s search field. The entry “action research” “educational technology” produces 178,000 hits in Google. The first hit is a link to Google’s specialized search engine, Google Scholar.

When I click on the Google Scholar link, I can see that the number of hits is immediately reduced to 11,800—that is because the specialized search engine narrows the search to results which only contain scholarly links.

The first hit is an article in ERIC. Notice the five links under the description of the link: Cited by 173, Related articles, BL Direct, All 2 versions, Cite, and More. The first option (Cited by...) links the searcher to 173 bibliographies in which the book was cited, particularly helpful for finding articles written earlier in a related subject or field. "Related articles" is fairly self-explanatory, displaying articles Google Scholar has identified as similar to the article under question. "BL Direct" allows you to purchase an article directly from the British Library--but this option isn't necessary. You can always request an article through Interlibrary Loan if you are unable to find access to the item through VCSU's subscription databases. The next option allows you to view multiple versions of the article, if it has been re-published or distributed on a different website or through a different medium. The "Cite" option provides formatted citation in various styles, including MLA, APA, and Chicago. By clicking on "More," you may be able to see a cached version of the article, or a page displaying its bibliographic information.

The second link on that page is to an Internet document entitled "Influences and Barriers to the Adoption of Instructional Technology." I open the link and want to search the document for the work project. To do so, I use the Edit/Find in this page Menu from my browser and enter the term project in the search box at the bottom (You can also access this feature by pressing CTRL and F simultaneously on a PC, or Command and F on a Mac). I can move through the document looking for that term by simply clicking on Find Next.