Using Google Scholar With Your UW-Madison NetID

Google Scholar is a free database which provides a way to search just for scholarly materials such as journal articles, books, patents, and case law. Unlike a Google search, a Google Scholar search does not find websites, blogs, news sources, or other web materials.

Google Scholar

• While you can search Google Scholar for free, it does not provide free access to all materials. When you are on campus, you can usually read the full text of most articles. However, when you are off campus, you may be asked to pay for access to certain articles.
• The UW-Madison Libraries pay subscription fees to hundreds of journal publishers so that you can use their articles. In order to avoid paying for articles you find on Google Scholar, you need to let the database know that you are affiliated with UW-Madison.
• To login to Google Scholar:
  • From the UW-Madison Libraries homepage, choose “Databases” from the “Catalog” drop-down menu.
  • Select the “Top 10 Databases” link below the search box.
  • Select Google Scholar from the list.
  • Select “Access Database”.
  • You will be prompted to sign in with your NetID and password.
• Once you have logged in, you will be redirected to the Google Scholar search page.
• To set Library links:
  • Select the three lines in the upper left of search page.
  • Select “Settings”
  • Select “Library links”
  • Check “University of Wisconsin-Madison-Find It @ UW-Madison” and “UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON – ProQuest Fulltext”
  • Select “Save”
• After you do a search, you will see a “Find It at UW-Madison” link to the right of most  articles. You can use this link to access the full text of the article through a UW-Madison journal subscription or, if the article is not available online, to request a copy through Interlibrary Loan.