Gambia: Google Scholar

Pros

• Searches scholarly articles, books, conference papers and other materials all in one search
• Can be linked with libraries
• Links directly to Google Books
• Links directly to cited or citing articles
• Interdisciplinary
• Good replacement for when there is no access to scholarly sources

Cons

• May not be current or comprehensive
• Less precise than academic databases
• Does not search beyond a pay wall
• May not cover older publications, particularly those not published electronically. (If it is not on the Internet Google cannot find it).
• Many records only available as summary / abstract
• Results ranked by algorithm which favors frequently-cited references.
  • Bias towards older references.
• Updates to existing records take 6-9 months to a year or longer.