Google Scholar Tips
Use this video to get started using Google Scholar. If you prefer written instructions, download the handouts included below the video. To practice what you've learned, go through the exercises at the bottom of the page.
Fast forward to the timestamps below to learn about the following topics:
Printable instructions and key points
Research exercises
Practice using Google Scholar by completing the exercises below.
Download a PDF of these exercises. (PDF)
Exercise 1
Use Google Scholar to:
Exercise 2
Use Google Scholar to:
Exercise 3
Use Google Scholar to:
Post or send the results of each exercise to the location requested by your instructor.
- 0:57 - Performing searches
- 7:38 - Connecting Google Scholar to your Texas Tech library account
- 9:23 - Using the "Cited by" feature
- 13:26 - Saving your sources
Printable instructions and key points
- Using Google Scholar: Key Points (with screenshots) (PDF)
- Using Google Scholar: Key Points (condensed version, no screenshots) (PDF)
Research exercises
Practice using Google Scholar by completing the exercises below.
Download a PDF of these exercises. (PDF)
Exercise 1
Use Google Scholar to:
- Find three articles (not books) on the effects of music therapy on patients with cerebral palsy.
- At least one needs to be a research study, not a theoretical paper.
- At least one must deal with movement in addition to music therapy and cerebral palsy.
- At least one must have been published within the last year. - Click on “Cited by” for any of the three articles you picked.
- Within the “Cited by” list, search for and find an article that pertains to infant patients.
- Write the complete citation for all four articles you found. Write two citations in MLA style and two in APA style.
Exercise 2
Use Google Scholar to:
- Find three articles(not books, not patents) related to agricultural water drainage.
- Each article should examine water drainage practices from a different country. - Pick one country, and find an item (article, book, dissertation) that helps explain how water drainage or irrigation practices affect cattle in that country.
- Describe how you found the item you found in part 2.
Exercise 3
Use Google Scholar to:
- Find an item that uses the fictional character Harry Potter to explain some part of an attorney’s work. The item must have been cited in at least 100 other sources.
- Write a works cited reference entry for that item using MLA style, and then practice also writing one in APA style.
- Search within the articles that cite the article you found, and find at least one that talks about celebrities as part of their discussion/argument.
- Write a works cited reference entry for that item using MLA style, and then practice also writing one in APA style.
Post or send the results of each exercise to the location requested by your instructor.