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Google and Google Scholar: IRC Search Box vs. Google Scholar

Ideas to improve your searching using advanced features of Google & Google Scholar.

IRC Search Box vs. Google Scholar

The IRC Search Box and Google Scholar are both search engines that let you quickly search across a massive index of scholarly information.

The IRC Search Box and Google Scholar search different bodies of scholarly content. There is overlap, but there is content findable in the Search Box but not Google Scholar, and vice-versa.  The two search engines perform relevance ranking in very different ways.

Some features unique to the IRC Search Box:

  • Results are reflective of the IRC's collection — as an IMSA student or staff member, you have access to mostly everything you can find in the search box.
  • Find print/physical material in the Library collection — The IRC Search Box contains all our Library Catalog records and can be used for finding print material and media in the library.
  • Find materials in the other 80+ libraries in our consortium (I-Share). These items are available for borrowing.
  • Useful search refinements:
    • “Items with full text online”
    • “Limit to articles from scholarly publications, including peer-review”
    • “Limit to IMSA IRC or include other IL academic libraries" - select IMSA only, or include the other libraries
  • Saved Items — email, print, cite, export to RefWorks/EndNote/BibTex

Some features unique to Google Scholar:

IRC Search Box

The IRC Search Box searches:

  • Print collection (see below)
  • All IMSA subscribed electronic databases for articles
  • Numerous ebook collections we have access to through our consortium. These collections ARE NOT included in the individual databases listed below
  • Searches by ebook chapter which can provide you with additional search results
  • Scholarly open access journal articles
  • Print books owned at other Illinois academic libraries (choose I-Share) that can be borrowed for you

Because of the large number of resources available through the consortium and the open access journals, I recommend you begin your search with the search box.