Google Scholar is a search feature of the Google search engine that seeks out scholarly books, articles and Web pages from many different nonprofit and commercial sources. The database is large and includes scholarly works in many fields of study.

There are pros and cons to using Google Scholar.

Our librarians recommend you use Google Scholar as a supplemental resource, in addition to Shoen Library's catalogs and research databases.

When searching for books in Google Scholar, you may see a link to Library Search. This link appears if the item is in library catalogs. Clicking on Library Search will present you with the option to search Shoen Library's catalog.

When searching for articles in Google Scholar, you may see Resources@Marylhurst or Full-Text@Marylhurst. These link to Shoen Library's Article Linker, a service that links to full-text articles if they are available. If the full-text is not found by Article Linker, you have the option of filling out the interlibrary loan form.

Google Scholar has some limitations.

Google Scholar does not provide free access to all content.

The library does not provide immediate access to all sources that Google Scholar links to, as not all sources are part of Shoen Library's holdings.

Google Scholar does not provide a detailed summary of the sources that are searched.

Search results are mixed -- they can be links about or to books, articles and Web pages.