Alerting services are an excellent way to keep informed of the latest information on your area of research or interest. Alerting services are available from subscription databases, LibrarySearch, publisher’s web pages and other web resources.
Alerting services utilise different methods of delivery. These include receiving alerts via email or by accessing an RSS feed.
A topic, author or search alert allows you to receive alerts for articles that match your research interests. You will be alerted as relevant items are added to a database or electronic resource. This type of alert allows you to receive the results of pre-programmed searches periodically. It involves doing a search in the database, looking at the search history and then saving the search as an alert.
A citation alert can be used to be alerted when someone cites a particular article. This type of alert utilises databases that have a citation search function, i.e. they allow you to see who is citing a particular article. It usually involves registering first, identifying the item and then saving as a citation alert.
Most journals provide alert services to keep you up to date with their content. Traditionally these have been called ToC alerts and will send you the table of contents each time a new issue of a journal is published. This enables you to see what is being published and take steps to view any articles of interest. The alert will not include the full text of articles.
LibrarySearch allows signed-in users to receive alerts when there is an update to a saved search query. This could include title, keyword or author.
The alerts in these databases automatically search for the latest records matching your saved search. This involves conducting a search using relevant search terms and lists, then saving the search as an alert. You may be prompted to register if you have not done so previously. Give your search a name and set a notification frequency.
Article citations alerts notify you by email whenever a journal article or publication you have chosen has been cited by a new publication that has been added to the database. Look for 'Create Citation Alert' to create alerts. Databases such as Scopus and Web of Science provide step by step instruction on how to set up alerts.
Note: to take full advantage of Google Scholar functionality it is recommended to use a personal email account.
How to save searches and set alerts in Scopus (2:13 mins) by Scopus - Research tools (YouTube)
Save searches and create alerts in Web of Science (2:16 mins) by Web of Science Training (YouTube)
Conferences are an important part of staying current with intellectual and academic developments and discussion. There are diverse websites that will alert you of upcoming conferences. Papers are sometimes available via conference websites or accessible via databases.
The Library has a team of Teaching and Research Librarians available to assist staff and students in the use of library services and resources. In terms of staying current with the literature they are able to:
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