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English 201A: English Composition (Marini): Google Scholar Button

How to find and use resources for your food-issue research project.

1. What is the Google Scholar Button?

The Scholar button is a browser add-on which installs a browser button for easy access to Google Scholar from any web page.

It can be used to:

  • find full text content available on the web or at Cal Poly
  • format references in MLA

3. Using the Google Scholar Button

Now when you are searching any article database and find an article you want that does not have fulltext in the database, you can locate other sources of fulltext:

  • Highlight the title of the article
  • Click on the Scholar Button
  • If you see a green button at the bottom of the pop-up window, click on it to get to the fulltext article. The green button will be labeled something like [PDF] escholarship.org.
  • If you have added any other libraries where you have borrowing privileges (see step 4), a button will come up for their holdings. You will need to be logged in to the other library to get to their fulltext holdings.
  • If you do not see a green button at the bottom of the pop-up window, then you will need to either find another article or interlibrary loan the article from Cuesta Library from inside Cuesta Search.

2. Adding the Scholar Button

Scholar Button works best in the Chrome browser, but is also available for recent versions of Firefox and Safari.

  • Start by going to Google Scholar and clicking on the 3-line menu icon.
  • Click on Settings.
  • Click on Button.
  • Click on Install Scholar Button to look up papers as you browse.
  • Click on Add to Firefox (or Chrome, etc.)

4. Customize Your Scholar Button

Now that you have added the Scholar Button to your browser, you need to customize it. This is where you add access to more magazine and journal titles.

  • Log in to Google.
  • Click on the Scholar Button, choose the settings (gear icon).
  • Click on Library Links.
  • Add Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. Cuesta students can physically go to their library to get journal articles.
  • Add any other libraries which are part of Google Scholar where you have borrowing privileges, such as San Francisco Public Library or Los Angeles Public Library. (Any California resident is eligible for a card from these libraries.)