Google Scholar

I have found it very interesting reading about Google Scholar this week for the Digital History class. When I first heard about Google Scholar in undergrad. I explored it quite superficially. I typed in the odd subject for fun to see what would come up before dismissing it as a tool I would not use in my research. The library and online journal databases, such as JSTOR, Historical Abstracts, and America: History and Life, were more than satisfactory. It seems, however that that was only round one of my experience with Google Scholar.

Since coming to Western, Google Scholar has come up more often in conversation during the short time I have been here than in the four years I spent at Acadia. Working on my essay for Understanding Archives I decided to give it another try along with the Western library proxy server. The topic I chose for my essay had to with electronic records and their management. I was mostly interested in recent articles and kept an eye out for authors that have been introduced in lectures and through class readings. Google Scholar managed to furnish me with many pertinent articles from journals such as Archivaria and D-LibMagazine by authors such as Luciana Duranti, Kenneth Thibodeau, and Terry Cook. Turning next to JSTOR I encountered the usual overwhelming deluge of articles. Had this been a history essay I would have felt much more comfortable navigating this. I have done it in the past on many occasions. However, in terms of finding suitable up-to-date articles on electronic records and archives. I was not quite as successful. It is worth noting that the Western libraries, do not have a huge selection of books on the topic I was looking for. This of course is expected as writing and publishing physical books on constantly changing technology is a much slower process than producing journal articles.

As a result of this experience I am not as hostile toward Google Scholar. However, just because it won round two, in my opinion, does not promise anything for the future.