Google Scholar gains access to 100+ University libraries

[MrFun]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara


I'm a scholar . . . . . .

hmmm . . . . . .

[Starchild]

U of Calgary shows up but Oxford and Cambridge don't? Hmmm.....bit North-Amereocentric.

[child of Thor]

poly is my library of knowledge

edit: it works fine now - probably my spelling mistake!

[Agathon]

U of Calgary shows up but Oxford and Cambridge don't? Hmmm.....bit North-Amereocentric.

Don't you know that those old fart schools suck compared to the University of Calgary?

[Sikander]

I'm a scholar from my a$$hole to my collar. Above the collar I'm all jock.

[Kuciwalker]

Originally posted by Starchild
U of Calgary shows up but Oxford and Cambridge don't? Hmmm.....bit North-Amereocentric.

Wait... there's actually stuff outside of North America? Except terrorist places like Iraq?

[Asher]

Originally posted by Starchild
U of Calgary shows up but Oxford and Cambridge don't? Hmmm.....bit North-Amereocentric.

Schools needed to volunteer to participate and have infrastructure for Google to "hook into" for the searches to work. Not all universities have digitized significant portions of their library for a search to work well -- indeed, I'm betting Oxford and Cambridge -- being the classic old-school schools -- haven't digitized much.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Agathon
Don't you know that those old fart schools suck compared to the University of Calgary?

Apparently they do in the sense that they have woefully out of date library infrastructure, or *******s of librarians that refuse to index their work outside of their campus.

A quick check on Oxford's website forbids me from viewing library contents unless I'm on the Oxford network (pretty frickin' stupid IMO). A better way is to have an authentication student so Oxford students elsewhere can still use it.

If that's any indication of their technical prowess, it's no surprise at all they haven't participated in Google Scholar.

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Asher
Of course you are.

I'm just not a professional scholar. I'm an autodidact. Been doing considerable research on the Ottoman Empire for the last couple years.

[Odin]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara


I'm just not a professional scholar. I'm an autodidact. Been doing considerable research on the Ottoman Empire for the last couple years.

EU modding obsession?

[Spiffor]

You don't need your student's ID to see what the uni library of Stuttgart (heck, all the libraries in Stuttgart) have to offer. If you go to these libraries, you don't have to show any ID to consult the books either (only if you want to borrow them).

How exactly is google Scholar interesting for me, if I need to be a student of a particular uni to access the books? If I was a student of a particular uni already, I'd go to the library and read the book in paper format.

I thought the whole point of the internet was to communicate data to people, regardless of their location.

[Asher]

Originally posted by Spiffor
You don't need your student's ID to see what the uni library of Stuttgart (heck, all the libraries in Stuttgart) have to offer. If you go to these libraries, you don't have to show any ID to consult the books either (only if you want to borrow them).

How exactly is google Scholar interesting for me, if I need to be a student of a particular uni to access the books? If I was a student of a particular uni already, I'd go to the library and read the book in paper format.

I thought the whole point of the internet was to communicate data to people, regardless of their location.

Because it centralizes your searches. As people have mentioned before, many schools have many subscriptions to journals -- but no centralized search for all of them. That's one use.

The other is that there's no reason in the modern age to use just your local university library's resources. In fact, Google Scholar should be your first choice to research items for school from reputable sources. This added feature adds in other books and sources that you have access to through your university. Further, it then includes these with the other rankings based on relevance.

It means you need to search one place, rather than on Google Scholar and then dozens of other places.

For what it's worth, you don't need to have an ID to see what the UofC offers either: http://thoth.lib.ucalgary.ca/

The difference is while that searches the book database, the real value is in the journals that the school subscribes to. The vast majority of these cost a lot of money, and require authentication. They are not covered by the library search, and are one of the pieces requiring authentication.

The journals are licensed to a specific university and its students, which is why they require authentication. For example... http://www.ucalgary.ca/library/ejournals/

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by Asher
Because it centralizes your searches. As people have mentioned before, many schools have many subscriptions to journals -- but no centralized search for all of them. That's one use.

I mean, what's the use of having access to Calgary's catalogue if I can't access the data? Knowing that I'm half-a-planet away from Calgary, why would I even bother consulting its catalogue?
For that matter, why would I bother peeking at the uni-library of Munich? The travel to Munich (only two hours away) is pretty expansive already, and it's not worth it for only one book.

The only reason why a worldwide centralized search engine would be useful, is that you're unrestricted in your access to the books of many universities (unrestrected by geography or by student IDs). In the past, I had no intention whatsoever in looking at the UofC's catalogue, for the simple reason that I couldn't reach its books. If I'm unable to reach the UofC's material while using GoogleScholar, why would I want the UofC's results to clutter my search?

[Asher]

Originally posted by Spiffor
I mean, what's the use of having access to Calgary's catalogue if I can't access the data?

Err...you wouldn't add Calgary to your list.

The idea is you add the instutitions you have access to only. There is no reason to add the others.

I'm not sure I understand your point.

The only reason why a worldwide centralized search engine would be useful, is that you're unrestricted in your access to the books of many universities (unrestrected by geography or by student IDs). In the past, I had no intention whatsoever in looking at the UofC's catalogue, for the simple reason that I couldn't reach its books. If I'm unable to reach the UofC's material while using GoogleScholar, why would I want the UofC's results to clutter my search?

You wouldn't...

If you studied at the University of French Retreat Tactics, you would add that university to your list for research. You wouldn't add Harvard or whatever...

[Spiffor]

Originally posted by Asher
If you studied at the University of French Retreat Tactics, you would add that university to your list for research. You wouldn't add Harvard or whatever...

So, since I'm a student at the Universität Stuttgart, I would use GoogleScholar only to look at the catalogue of the Universität Stuttgart. I still don't understand the use of Google Scholar in that context, especially since the Uni Stuttgart has tools that are more adapted to its unique situation.