Open scientific content search tools for research and education
Authors: Redkina N. S. 
Published: January 2024

Introduction. The concept of open science, actively promoted in recent decades, as well as technological innovations, make the culture of information retrieval a significant element in the development of the information society, which has a significant impact on scientific activity, education, management, social processes, etc. Indicators of the level of culture of information retrieval are knowledge of basic methods and means of obtaining information, including skills and abilities to work with information resources and search engines. The culture of information retrieval helps improve the quality of information extraction from increasingly large open information arrays. Open tools for searching scientific content are the most important, but require training during operation, they are components of the global market of information resources and services, allowing the selection of relevant information from large data sets in accordance with user requests.

Purpose setting. The study sets the task of studying the applicability of individual scientific search systems (Google Scholar, Semantic Scholar, Internet Archive Scholar and BASE) for information searching when conducting research and in educational processes, developing competencies to improve the level of information culture of specialists in the field of library and information sciences.

Methodology and methods of the study. The research was carried out using comparative and system analysis methods, mathematical methods for processing statistical data, and content analysis of documentary sources of information. The methodological basis was practice-oriented and competency-based approaches aimed at developing the professional skills of librarians and library scientists in searching for digital content and using open access resources.

Results. The analysis made it possible to draw conclusions about the capabilities of search systems, methods for retrieving information and the specifics of the reflection of publications in them, as well as the most acceptable conditions for information retrieval in the field of «library and information sciences», which makes it possible to more rationally use the potential of systems and quickly obtain complete and relevant scientific information on the topic.

Conclusions. The results of the study add a new dimension to our knowledge of scientific search engines. The study presents evidence that Google Scholar is a powerful tool for searching Russian literature in the field of library science in terms of articles from scientific journals, as well as detecting a limited volume of some other types of publications with the ability to evaluate with Google Scholar Metrics. It is concluded that Google Scholar, Semantic Scholar, Internet Archive Scholar and BASE, despite being positioned as effective tools for searching scientific information in various disciplines, require caution in use, because these systems cannot guarantee comprehensive results and are not complete sources of bibliographic data, but can be considered in conjunction with other resources, taking into account the availability of advanced search engines and additional services. Knowledge of scientific search engines contributes to improving the culture of information retrieval, the culture of users, their qualifications and professionalism.