The web and library resources
Web Search Engines
Google, Google Scholar, and other search engines are powered by proprietary algorithms. Because the systems are proprietary, we don't really know how/why certain results are displayed, or displayed first, or even if we are getting the most complete picture. We can make some educated guesses (and companies interested in search engine optimization are doing that all the time!), but we don’t know. Studies have shown that algorithms also contain bias and incorrect assumptions about what researchers are looking for.
In terms of articles, many researchers rely heavily on Google Scholar to find articles. The researcher will then search for the references found in those articles, and the "cited by" links, to expand their search. Sometimes this works really well, other times, less so. (The "less so" is what keeps librarians nice and busy!)
So, should you search the web? Of course. Just know there are other resources out there and use all the tools.
Library Subject Databases
Library subject databases comprehensively index the articles in selected journals. The journals themselves are selected along disciplinary lines. In other words, Sociology Source covers sociology, and sociology-adjacent, journals. ScienceDirect indexes science journals, etc. The Web of Science indexes Science and Social Science journals. It’s a great way to explore different disciplinary perspectives on a topic and to ensure that your search is comprehensive.
In terms of searching, library databases match your keywords to words in the title, subject headings, and abstracts (summaries) of the articles in the journals indexed by the database. There is often some relevancy weighting based on where in the record your search terms appear. Some databases also look for your keywords in the full text of the article.
Searching a library database, you will find things you didn't find in Google Scholar and sometimes you will find things in Google Scholar that you didn't find in a database.
The Library Catalog
The library catalog has a record for every book, ebook, journal, database, map, film, newspaper available through the library. It does not include articles. We have close to 8 million print titles and over 2 million ebooks. Very few of these will be freely available on the web!
Searching for articles by author
To search by author in the Web of Science.
Enter the last name, first name (or first initial), e.g.
- Hountondji Paulin J
- Merton, Robert K
- Bowler, Peter J
- Washington Harriet A
Note: You cannot search by author in Google Scholar (although you can certainly pick out the authored articles from the list of results)
To broaden to include works about, try connecting the name with a topic word.
examples:
- Merton AND universalism
- Bowler and darwinism
- hountoundji and ethnophilosophy
To broaden, just enter the thinker's name.
e.g. Hountondji
Note: Web of Science is not doing a great job with Harriet Washington. Try Proquest Social Science Premium, instead.
Proquest Social Science Premium
- "Harriet A. Washington"
This finds a number of articles that reference Medical Apartheid.
What else can you do in Web of Science?