The case of the mysterious 'even more' in Google

There is understandable annoyance from academics on Twitter over the last few days regarding the decline in importance of Google Scholar. You used to be able to find the resource by clicking the 'More' box, but as you can see, it's no longer there:

You have to click on 'Even more' in order to get to it. Of course, if you know the Google Scholar URL you can of course go straight to it. In practical terms therefore, very little has changed. However, the concern here is that we've already seen how ruthless Google can be in getting rid of products and resources that it thinks do not perform well. Could this be a portent of worse things to come for Google Scholar? Has Big G really gone so far down the route of simply looking at each tool in turn and weighing it on some theoretical balance with cash on the other scale? It wouldn't surprise me. I hope that we're not seeing the final days of the product, but I'm rather concerned we may be.

Comments

[Deb Skolnik, M.L.S.]

I have noticed how hard getting to Google Scholar has been made. I think Google needs to come up with a customizable tool bar that lets users put the apps they use most in one place, rather than have to hunt through several screens to find what they are looking for.

I hope you are not right about the possible demise of Google Scholar. I find it a useful supplement to my database searches, and I know quite a few medical professionals who use it.

[Dave Lull]

I find Scholarfy useful:

http://www.cam.cornell.edu/~jugander/scholarfy.html

[Jerilyn Marshall]

Deb, Google has had a customizable toolbar for a long time. And last time I looked, Google Scholar and other apps can be placed in the bar.

I used to use the toolbar for the popup blocking and also for having the Google search box embedded right in the browser.

Now find that other popup blockers work just as well, and most browsers have search enabled from the address line. So I got rid of the toolbar, which just uses up space. I haven't used it for years now. (By the way, I see it is also relegated to the Even more section.)

Dave, Scholarfy looks good!