There is a great, lesser-known way to make your research go more smoothly using Google Scholar:

Use the library’s customized version of Google Scholar. Available in the central search box on the library homepage and on the library’s alphabetical list of databases.

Advantage: The GC-customized version knows the library’s electronic journal holdings and links you directly to the articles in the library’s databases. (If you’re off campus, you’ll be prompted to log in with your GC credentials before you can access library subscriptions.)

This is a great way to save time and avoid publisher paywalls. It requires that you click on a little button on the side (“Find Fulltext at GC”) for each article you want. Keep an eye out for links to other versions of the article, including open access. In fact, Google Scholar is currently the single best tool for finding open access versions of journal articles. If an article is freely available — on the publisher’s site, on the author’s homepage, or in a disciplinary or institutional repository — Google Scholar will usually find it.

Whether an article is open access or locked up in a library database, the GC-customized version of Google Scholar can lead you to it!