Listen to this on your smart phone by scanning this qr code
Transcript
Welcome to one of a series of podcasts produced by the Health Services Management Centre’s Library and Information Service.”
Hello, my name is Rachel Posaner and within this very short podcast I am going to provide you with some information about the Internet research tool, Google Scholar.
Do you sometimes find it hard to find the scholarly information you want from Google? – if so they you should be using Google Scholar.
Google scholar is a a freely available resource which can be found at: http://www.scholar.google.com. This Internet based tool is designed to help search scholarly material such as journal articles, conference papers, theses and books across all subject areas.
Google scholar is very easy to use and the interface is straightforward. It has a really useful advanced search option which covers options such as….. What’s more if you are searching from on campus or have set up the Proxy server on your computer you will be able to access full text articles via the search result s in Google Scholar.
However, do be aware that Scholar does have a few weaknesses. Firstly it does primarily search for information from the medical, scientific and technical subject areas and so might not be the best resource for information in the social sciences area.
Also, be aware that Google scholar does not reveal its sources so don’t just rely on this source to provide a “comprehensive literature search”. To make your search fully inclusive you would need to search other databases as well such as Medline, Cinahl, or the Health Management Information Consortium database or HMIC. You can do this by logging on to the Elibrary at: www.bham.ac.uk/elibrary and entering your university ID and Password. If you don’t have these details just phone the IT helpdesk on 0121 414 7171 and they will be able to help you. Also, it’s worth remembering that you will only get full text access to those journals subscription to by the University. So, if you are having problems tracking down the full text of specific articles just contact a member of the library staff on 0121 414 3672
So, for a useful place to start for information try Google scholar at: http://www.scholar.google.com
Well, that’s it. I hope that you found this podcast useful. For more information about any of the library services please contact us via our website at: www.hsmc.bham.ac.uk/library or, phone us on 0121 414 3672, email us at: hsmc-library@contacts.bham.ac.uk or skype us at:hsmclibrary, or check us out on either Facebook or Twitter. Thank you