Google Scholar and the Continuing Education Literature.

Abstract The recent introduction of Google Scholar has renewed hope that someday a powerful research tool will bring continuing education literature more quickly, freely, and completely to one's computer. The authors suggest that using Google Scholar with other traditional search methods will narrow the research gap between what is discoverable and available. They present results of an investigation in which the names of two scholars were submitted to research queries using traditional library databases and Google Scholar. While not all of the scholars' academic publications were identified in the search, more were identified by Google Scholar than the other databases. However, other databases identified some that Google Scholar did not. It was evident from this informal analysis that utilizing Google Scholar with other traditional research methods adds value and discoverability in the search for relevant continuing education literature.