A tool for academic papers:
looks excellent to me, couldn't resist a dabble even though I'm on vacation.
Richard
Exxxxxcelleeeeent! Actual information, like a library.
Richard,
A scholar and a moodler!
Ray
A scholar and a moodler!
Ray
I am underwhelmed by this. Google is stretching itself a bit thin and trying to reinvent the wheel while ignoring all previously developed library standards that were designed to make finding sources easy and logical. I tried a number of searches and some of the results I got were so far off the mark it was useless. If you are looking for scholarly sources, you are better off with something like OCLC or RLIN for books, any number of databases for articles, and even Amazon for books in print if that is all you have access to. As for anything else, the general Google search is better at getting what you are looking for than this scholar thing.
I tend to agree Niki, though the citation feature does look fairly interesting, giving a broader view of citations than some of the bibliographic databases.
I would note that the service has only just entered Beta testing. I foresee this tool becoming very useful, not least to give the other services an impetus to introduce up-to-date search technology before Google Scholar grows and eats their lunch.
Two write-ups that give you a glimpse behind the scenes:
Most of the 'complaints' I've read have actually been media-savvy marketing exercises by librarians saying "we've had this stuff for years, but we spent so much on licensing access to all this information, we didn't have enough money left to publicize that fact".
There was also this interesting titbit, in another article:
LaGuardia said she is looking towards a tool called CrossRef to blend the ease of Google with existing library systems. The utility is being developed by Google in conjunction with 29 major academic publishers.
It might not utterly replace every other system out there, but it may only be a matter of time until it does. Personally, I don't like the idea of all scholarly (or web) search being funnelled through a single corporation but I'd rather it was an efficient, effective corporation, one that perceives your business as something to be earned rather than the turgid monopolies that seem to run academic publishing at the moment.