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FLM FYS01 Storytelling in Cinema

A note about Google Scholar

Google scholar can be helpful, but it only provides you with results that it can find for free on the open web. Articles from subscription library databases are invisible. This is why you often hit a "pay wall" instead of the full text article.

Consequently, if you only use Google Scholar in your research, you are seeing results that are the tip of the iceberg. It's best to use both Google Scholar and licensed library databases. 

Photo depicting Google Scholar as the tip of the iceberg and licensed library databases hidden beneath the surface


This research approach works every time:

  1. Use library tools first. If we don't have it, go to step 2.
  2. Try Google Scholar as a fallback plan. If that doesn't work (like, you hit a paywall), go to step 3.
  3. Use SU Libraries' Interlibrary Loan service when all else fails. If you have citation info for a source you can't find in full text, request it through Interlibrary Loan.