Your Library Out Loud Podcast:
Google Tools
Transcript
Nearly everyone has used or heard of Google, but have you had a look at the different options that are above the search box? Or clicked on more to see what other Google products are available? You will find some very useful tools to help you with your web searches.
Google Scholar is designed for academic researchers and finds journal articles, conference papers and other scholarly information. It differs from a Google web search because many publishers let it get in to password protected databases, which normal search engines don't have access to. This means you can search for literature from many databases, publishers and repositories at the same time. If you set your Google Scholar preferences to find the Charles Sturt University library, you will be able to see if we hold any of your results by clicking on the csu.edu.au link.
While scholar is a powerful and attractive tool, it doesn't replace learning to search databases directly. You can't set it to find peer reviewed material like you can in many databases, it does not have access to all of the databases that the CSU library subscribes to, and as it is still a beta product the links to the CSU catalogue are not always reliable. So if you can't get access to a journal you want, always try it again in the library catalogue or databases.
But it is really useful for helping you think of different keywords or suggesting different databases relevant to your topic. It is also great if you have an incomplete or incorrect citation that is stopping you from finding an article that you know exists.
Google Books is great for locating books on your topic. Occasionally you will find the whole book online, or most of the time you will get at least a preview of the book chapters, with your search terms highlighted on the pages. Clicking on the "about this book" link will give you basic bibliographic data and some books will show additional information like key terms and phrases, references to the book from scholarly publications or other books, chapter titles and a list of related books. You also get the option to find the book in a library, which, if you are located in Australia, will link you to the Libraries Australia database so that you can see which Australian libraries hold the title, and request an interlibrary loan if CSU doesn't have it. If you are using this overseas, you will be linked to WorldCat., which will help you locate a holding library near you.
If you need images for an assignment or presentation, Google images will let you search for all sorts of pictures using keywords. You need to be aware of copyright issues, and as always you have to reference anything that you use.
While not necessarily an academic tool, Google Maps is a very handy resource. You can use it for getting directions, and locating addresses or places. You can zoom in and out, drag the map around, and see it in a satellite or map view. Try typing in your CSU campus to see where we are.
Are you sick of losing your thumb drive? Google Docs lets you create documents on line and view them from any computer with internet access. You can invite other users to view or collaborate, and export it in a variety of formats. It is ideal for group work or Mac users that don't have Word.
Blogger Play won't help you with your studies, but it is a great way to waste a few minutes, log onto play.blogger.com, where you can watch a live stream of all of the photos and images that people around the world are uploading onto their Google blogspot public sites.
Google has other great products available, like Google Notebook, Calendar, and Google Video. You're sure to find something there that you won't be able to live without.
If you need any advice on using Google Scholar or Books for your studies, contact the library through Ask a question, or if you are in Australia, you can call us toll free on 1800 808 369.
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