In the last post, I stated that Google Scholar will include things that aren't peer-reviewed, while JSTOR will not. Thanks to my colleague K8, an informational librarian, this is not necessarily accurate. I never knew that JSTOR housed essays and articles that weren't peer-reviewed, perhaps, because I only look there for things that are peer-reviewed. Thanks K8 for clarifying and reading my blog :0)
I also forgot to mention that while Google Scholar may have a ton of things that are not peer-reviewed, it is more recent than JSTOR. This I also informed my students, so there's a trade off: Students have to weight whether it's more important to look in places where the most recent scholarship exists, or if they should look in places where it is easiest to filter for peer-reviewed publications. Thanks for pointing this out too K8.
PC
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Well, what it boils down to is that peer-reviewed journals often contain some material that isn't peer-reviewed - things like review articles, discussion forums, letters and responses, etc.
JSTOR's different from most databases because it is a repository system. Digital preservation and expanded access is part of it's mission. Most databases are owed by publishing companies. What is offered in full-text is often based on profitability. It's hard to know very much about them because most of their contracts with institutions like libraries are secret. The companies require institutions to sign non-disclosure agreements. It's insidious.
This is one of those areas where I think Library and Info Science and Comp/Rhet really have a lot of potential cross-over.
Thanks k8 for that info. It is very helpful. I wish that I had had it while doing my dissertation.
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