[Web4lib] Which databases can Google Scholar crawl?

[Roy Tennant]

Kathryn,
You've discovered why trying to limit to particular dates in Google Scholar
is an exercise in futility. You have to remember that GS is not searching
controlled metadata, but full-text. Do any search you wish, limiting to a
particular year. Then start clicking through to the actual articles. You
will discover that dates as displayed in GS search results are almost a
complete fiction. For example, I did a search, limiting to 2004 in the
advanced search. I clicked on an article that displayed 2005 in the search
results, and it turned out the article was actually published in 1990! In a
nutshell, Google engineers have disdained metadata for full-text searching
and this is what you get.
Roy


On 2/21/08 5:53 AM, "Kathryn Silberger" <Kathryn.Silberger at marist.edu>
wrote:

> 
> Roy has asked an interestng question about how completely and frequently
> Google crawled targets.  Here are a few factoids of interest:
> 
> Today a Jstor search returns about 1,810,000 items; limited to "since 2004"
> -2950 items; "since 2003, - 10,600 items; "since 2002"  - 18,700 items.  (I
> began with 2004 because of The Wall).  Also today, at
> http://www.jstor.org.online.library.marist.edu/about/facts.html , Jstor say
> it has 1,850,206 articles online.
> 
> I don't know how many duplicate entries there are in GS for Jstor, but I
> bet there are some.  Nonetheless, it looks like GS indexes something in the
> neighborhood of 90 - 95% of Jstor.
> 
> Today Blackwell Synergy has 912,000 items retrieved in a GS search. On
> their website the say they have "over a million articles online".  Limiting
> that GS search to "since 2008"  - 1950 articles are retrieved; "since 2007
> " - 27,600, and "since 2006" - 42,700.
> 
> When I do a "DM Silberger search", (my husband), the Google count  is 326.
> My husband has  only written about 3  or 4 dozen scholarly articles.  The
> rest of what is coming up, seems to be items citing his papers.  Does
> anyone know if  the "inurl:" search in GS is strictly limited to  the URL
> of  main article, or will it pull up any URL listed in the full text of the
> entry?
> 
> 
> Katy
> 
> Kathryn K. Silberger
> Automation Resources Librarian
> James A. Cannavino Library
> Marist College
> 3399 North Road
> Poughkeepsie, NY  12601
> Kathryn.Silberger at marist.edu
> (845) 575-3000 x.2419
> 
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