A Comparative Study of Perceptions and Use of Google Scholar and Academic Library Discovery Systems

• Published in: College & research libraries Vol. 80; no. 6; pp. 876 - 891
• Main Authors: Oh, Kyong Eun, Colón-Aguirre, Mónica
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chicago Association of College and Research Libraries 01.09.2019; American Library Association
• Subjects: Academic Libraries; Access to Information; College Faculty; College Students; Comparative analysis; Incidence; Information Retrieval; Intelligent systems; Perceptions; Public Colleges; Research Universities; Scholarly communication; Search Engines; Usability; Use Studies; User Satisfaction (Information); Users (Information); Oregon; Pennsylvania (Pittsburgh); Maryland (College Park); Tennessee; Washington (Seattle); California (Berkeley); California; Alabama; Florida; Texas (Houston); Michigan (Detroit); New York (Albany); South Carolina; Pennsylvania; New Mexico; Illinois (Chicago); Massachusetts; Florida (Tampa); Kentucky (Louisville); Virginia
• ISSN: 0010-0870; 2150-6701
• DOI: 10.5860/crl.80.6.876

Google Scholar and academic library discovery systems are both popular resources among academic users for finding scholarly information. By conducting an online survey with 975 users from more than 20 public research universities across the United States, this study comparatively investigates how and why academic users use these two resources. Results show that the ways participants used both resources were similar, and both were perceived as highly "accessible" and "useful." Academic library discovery systems' perceived "comprehensiveness", "subjective norm", "loyalty", and "intended use" were higher than Google Scholar, while Google Scholar's perceived "ease of use", "system quality", and "satisfaction" were higher than that of academic library discovery systems.