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Online Students' Guide

Services and resources for students and faculty in distance programs or distance courses.

Top Google Search Tips

Google logoGoogle provides a page of ways to hack your search (see the link below). Be sure to check out the Expert Search Tips at the bottom of their page. Also check out the box below to learn about Google Scholar, which searches only the scholarly literature online.

Using Google Scholar with OneSearch

How? Use the library's Google Scholar search (click the Google Scholar tab above the search box).

Google Scholar Search Box

What does it do? The library's Google Scholar search brings back results from all of the library databases and the library catalog as well as all of the scholarly literature available elsewhere online. 

How do I get to the full text? You may see three different ways to access the full text of articles from Google Scholar:

1.  Follow the Find It@SJSU links into the library databases. You will see these links to the right of your results lists. 
2.  For articles freely available online, you may see PDF links to the right of your results list. Clicking the link may take you directly to the article.
3.  By clicking the double-arrow icon below an article title, you may see Find It@SJSU links, which can lead to the full text in the library databases. 

 

Customizing Google Scholar

You also have the option of customizing the Google Scholar search on your personal computer. You can do this by following the directions below.

  1. Click the Google Scholar link.
  2. Click the Menu icon in the upper-left corner (Google Scholar menu button)
  3. Choose Settings
  4. Click the Library Links link 
  5. Type "San Jose State University" into the search box and press the Search button
  6. Check the "San Jose State University--FindIt@SJSU" box
  7. Click Save

Now when you do a Google Scholar search, you will see the FindIt@SJSU link to the right of the article title. Clicking the FindIt@SJSU link takes you from Google Scholar directly into the King Library databases and to the full text of the article.

You will see Get It@SJSU under the double-arrow icon. "Get It" may also take you to the full text. Books and articles not available at the King Library can be requested through Interlibrary Loan.

The library also has a Google Scholar tab in its main search box, and this search provides direct links from Google Scholar to the full text of articles in the library databases.

Note: You'll notice WorldCat is a default search for Google Scholar. WorldCat is a union catalog that itemizes the collections of over 70,000 libraries in almost 200 countries. By keeping it among your Google Scholar results, you'll be able to see some titles that would otherwise not pop up. The King Library may not own them, but they can always be ordered through Interlibrary Loan.