Google Scholar Guide: Library Links Fairleigh Dickinson University
Google Scholar is a search engine that provides links to articles from academic publishers, professional societies, preprint repositories and scholarly articles posted on the web.
Many students feel comfortable starting their research using Google Scholar because of its similarity to Google’s internet search engine.
However, because it is a search engine and not a database, it is important to get to know some of the functionality and limitations of Google Scholar first.
Pros of Using Google Scholar
- Full-text when available
- Familiarity for users; similar features to a Google web search
- Citation information provided
- Searches vast array of information (i.e. preprints, technical reports)
Cons of Using Google Scholar
- No limiter for just scholarly publications or peer review
- Few options to limit or narrow search results
- Full-text not available or restricted access without a subscription
- Users still need to go through library resources to access full text
In order to use Library Links and other personalized features of Google Scholar, you will need to create a Google account. You can do so here.
Before you begin your search, you will want to set up your Library Links. Google Scholar allows you to connect your search results to your library’s holdings through EZproxy, so that you can access the full text of articles made available by your institutional subscriptions.
How to get there: From the Google Scholar Homepage, you will click on the dropdown menu symbol 
in the upper-left corner. In the dropdown menu, select Settings. In Settings, there is an option for Library Links on the left-hand side. You will then enter your library’s name in the search box, and press the magnifying glass to search. Select your library when it appears.
This ensures that your search results will include links to the databases in your collection that have full text copies of the articles you discover. For example:
The link to “FDU Journal Holdings” will take you from Google Scholar to the full text options for this article in our Journal Locator tool.
Please note: If you are on campus using FDU WiFi, you should automatically be linked to library holdings. However, if you are off campus or in an area with a weak campus Wifi connection, you have to set up Library Links to see links to FDU library holdings.
