Four Top Picks
Education 3-in-1 Articles Search (EBSCO)
Enables you to search across three important databases, rich in information and scholarship around education topics of all kinds: Education Source, ERIC (contents of the U.S. Department of Education's resource databank), and Academic Search Premier.
Politics Collection (ProQuest)
Enables you to search across several "gold standard" databases, including Policy File, Worldwide Political Science Abstracts, and PAIS (Public Affairs Information Service) Together, they cover the international literature in political science and public administration/policy, along with related fields. Formats you'll find here include journal articles (including those from the leading publications in political science and international relations), country reports, dissertations, think-tank reports, IGO publications (IMF, World Bank, OECD, e.g.) and working papers.
Sociological Abstracts (ProQuest)
Covers the international literature in sociology, social work, and related disciplines in the social and behavioral sciences. An essential resource for Social Studies concentrators, and a key supporting resource for topics that Government concentrators study. Coverage of education is robust.
GS searches differently from most library databases, including HOLLIS. In addition to searching "metadata" (lots of descriptive info about a book or article, it also searches full-text . This can be an additional advantage when you've got a very narrow topic or are seeking a "nugget" that traditional database searching can't surface easily.
Google Scholar incorporates more types of information -- not just books and journal contents-- and depending on your need, comfort level, and perspective, that eclecticism can be an advantage.
GS is also an excellent way to follow citation trails.
