Google Scholar is

Google Scholar is a search engine that provides links to full-text articles to which the University Library system subscribes or to articles made freely available by the publisher or author via pre-prints. 

 "We index papers, not journals." https://scholar.google.com/intl/en/scholar/help.html#coverage

"Google Scholar includes journal and conference papers, theses and dissertations, academic books, pre-prints, abstracts, technical reports and other scholarly literature from all broad areas of research. You'll find works from a wide variety of academic publishers, professional societies and university repositories, as well as scholarly articles available anywhere across the web. Google Scholar also includes court opinions and patents." https://scholar.google.com/intl/en/scholar/help.html#coverage

What does Google Scholar find?  

Three ways to access articles 

1. Interlibrary Loan

• If you do not see WMU article linker to the right of the article, look for the WMU Article Linker under the article. This will trigger a search in Library Search and if not available will link you to interlibrary loan. 
• ILL is a free service to students, faculty and staff at WMU. Articles will take 1-2 business days to be received electronically. 

2. Full Text Access

• Once synced to the library, use the WMU article linker to the right of  the article to quickly access full text through the library. You will be prompted to log in with your BNID. 

3. Open Access Repositories

• Google Scholar will find many pdf versions of articles available through a variety of repositories. 

The image below illustrates the three ways to access articles.

• The first article is an example of an article that requires ILL.
  • The word [Citation] appears in brackets at the beginning of the citation
  • There is not WMU Article Linker to the right so you will need to use the WMU Article Linker below the citation  to search Library Search. 
• The second article is an example of an article that is full text through WMU Libraries because there is WMU Article Linker to the right of the citation. 
• The third article is an example of an article from an open access journal repository which provides full-text.

Why Use Google Scholar? 

• Broaden search to what is not indexed in databases owned by WMU libraries
• Easy natural language search
• Quick citation count to weigh the impact factor of an article
• Quick links to citing literature
• Easy to do a thorough/extensive review of the literature
• Quick proxy links to full text articles via WMU databases
• Create an account to set up alerts for different searches

Caveat: There is an increasing number of grey literature showing up in Google Scholar.  Be sure to assess the source of the material.

How to set up Google Scholar to Search Databases 

• Click Settings gear in the upper right hand part of the screen
• Choose Library Links (on left).
• Search  "Western Michigan University".
• Check "Western Michigan University

(Find it@WMU)”

• Check Open WorldCat
• Save Settings
• A link to "Find it@WMU" should now appear on the right hand side of the results list for those citations that are available from the Libraries.
• extensive review of the literature
• Quick proxy links to full text articles via WMU databases
• Create an account to set up alerts for different searches

Caveat: There is an increasing number of grey literature showing up in Google Scholar.  Be sure to assess the source of the material.

How to set up Google Scholar to Search Databases 

• Click Settings gear in the upper right hand part of the screen
• Choose Library Links (on left).
• Search  "Western Michigan University".
• Check "Western Michigan University

(Find it@WMU)”

• Check Open WorldCat
• Save Settings
• A link to "Find it@WMU" should now appear on the right hand side of the results list for those citations that are available from the Libraries.