Research Technologies at the UIUC Library  Tags: slavic technology research_methods  

Current Awareness is a term used to encompass a variety of tools for staying up to date with the latest news which includes blogs, podcasting, RSS, database alerts, and table of contents alerts. Auto Alerts are e-mail delivered tables of contents from specific journals, newly published books, or subject searches of new journal articles by a specific publisher. Most major publishers database providers offer some form of Auto Alert.  Patrons can use these current awareness features to keep up-to-date in their field of interest.

Current awareness gives one the ability to set up permanent searches.  It allows one to save a search and run it manually at any time. The option to receive email updates (AutoAlerts) when new research matching your search criteria appears, is added to a database.

Note the "Create Alert "button in this EBSCO database:

In OVID databases (including ERIC, PsycINFO, and Current Contents) you can set up an OVID Personal Account.  It lets one create and maintain a private workspace for the saved search strategies and AutoAlerts.

Here is the example of the options available for customizing alerts in ILLUMINA:

For more information on current awareness, auto alerts and RSS feeds, see the instructional page on the UIUC Library web page: http://www.library.uiuc.edu/learn/research/current.html

For a step-by-step guide to setting up personal Auto Alerts in CSA (Cambridge), OVID and other databases go to the page prepared by the Education and Social Science Library : http://www.library.uiuc.edu/edx/curr_awareness.htm

The Funk (ACES) Library presents a page on signing up for Table of Contents (TOC) alerts:  http://www.library.uiuc.edu/agx/TOCalerts.html

Another in-depth guide to setting up alerts for a variety of databases available at UIUC has been prepared by the Biotechnology Information Center.  Here you will find both an overview of auto alerts, as well as detailed instructions on how to proceed:  http://www.library.uiuc.edu/biotech/alerts.html