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UWP 102E: Writing in Engineering

Google Scholar

If there is a record of a journal article on the open internet, you can use Google Scholar to find it. Some library licensed articles can be accessed directly in Google Scholar, but you must first configure your Google Scholar settings to work with our library subscriptions.

How to Configure Google Scholar:
  1. Open your Google Scholar settings, and choose Library Links from the menu bar.
  2. Search for University of California Davis.
  3. Check the box that says: University of California, Davis -- Get it at UC.
  4. Select Save.

Google Scholar Configuration

Google Advanced Search Techniques

Limiter What Is Searched Example
Quotation marks Forces an exact-match search.  Words have to appear as given, same order Example: “Fender Guitar Owner’s Manuals”
Site Limit your search to a single site. (See below for limiting to a type of site (i.e., all sites ending in .edu) Example: STEM site:ucdavis.edu
Filetype tells Google to return only results for a specific type of file, such as PDF Example: seo filetype:pdf
Source Allows you to choose a specific source in Google News. apple source: NY Times
term1 around(5) term2 Proximity search:
term1 within 5 words of term2		 (electric car) around(5) environment

For more on Advanced Google Searches, see:

Google: https://www.google.com/advanced_search

Google Search of Limited Domains:

  • This search technique lets you limit where Google searches to find more robust results.

    • Example:  Open source info (on any topic) – is likely to be on the web, but where?

      • commercial websites (probably not)

      • government websites (maybe?)

      • non-profits (probably?)

      • university/college websites (likely)

    • Use the search statements below to limit where Google searches –> this can give you better results

Limiter What Is Searched Example
(search terms) site:*.gov only government web sites (“open source” and (farm* or agric*)) site:*.gov
(search terms) site:*.edu university & college web sites (“open source” and (farm* or agric*)) site:*.edu
(search terms) site:*.org domains that end in .org (“open source” and (farm* or agric*)) site:*.org
(search terms) site:*.com commercial sites  
(search terms) site:*.mil Military sites (mainly US?)  
term1 around(5) term2 Proximity search:
term1 within 5 words of term2		 (electric car) around(5) environment

 

This isn’t foolproof, other domains exist, more info: Generic Top-Level Domain