इस ब्लॉग्स को सृजन करने में आप सभी से सादर सुझाव आमंत्रित हैं , कृपया अपने सुझाव और प्रविष्टियाँ प्रेषित करे , इसका संपूर्ण कार्य क्षेत्र विश्व ज्ञान समुदाय हैं , जो सभी प्रतियोगियों के कॅरिअर निर्माण महत्त्वपूर्ण योगदान देगा ,आप अपने सुझाव इस मेल पत्ते पर भेज सकते हैं - chandrashekhar.malav@yahoo.com
Alerting Services: Concept, Need, & Techniques Current Awareness Service (CAS)
P- 05. Information Sources, Systems and Services *
By :R Arora,Paper Coordinator
http://epgp.inflibnet.ac.in/vt/ls/isss/m23/et.pdf
MODULE 23: ALERTING SERVICES: CONCEPT, NEED &
TECHNIQUES OF CURRENT AWARENESS SERVICES
(CAS)
Content Writer/Author - Dr. R K Verma
Structure of Module/Syllabus of module(Define Topic of
Module and its subtopics)
Alerting Services: Concept,
Need, & Techniques of
Current Awareness
Services (CAS)
Introduction, Definitions of CAS, Need, Characteristics,
Categories
and Types, Methods and techniques, Computer-based alerting
services
1. DESCRIPTION OF THE MODULE
Description of the Module
Subject Name Library and Information Science
Paper Name Information Sources, Systems and Services
Module Name/Title Alerting Services: Concept, Need, &
Techniques of Current
Awareness Services (CAS)
Module Id LIS/ISSS/23
Pre-requisites Library and Information Services, Recent
Additions, Table of
Contents, Computer-Based Information Services
Objectives To keep the information seeker up-to-date in
his/her field of interest
or specialization; save the time and financial resources on
subscription and storage of primary information sources.
Keywords Current awareness services, Alerting service, RSS
feed, Bulletin
Board, Selective dissemination of information
2. OBJECTIVES
After reading this module, you will be able to:
Know about the manual as well as
computer-based methods and techniques to keep the
information seekers up-to-date in their field of interest or
specialization,
List the various alerting services in
modern library/information centres,
Provide current awareness services in
information organisations,
Understand how to save the time of the
user, and
Learn how to save the financial
resources on subscription and storage of primary information
sources.
3. INTRODUCTION
All types of libraries/information centres are organized to
provide some basic services which are
rendered either in anticipation or on demand from the users.
For example, a typical library brings to
the notice of its users new documents accessioned and new
issues of journals received to attract its
potential users. It also helps to find a specific document,
or a part of the same. The information
services provided in anticipation are termed as alerting
services as these alert the users about the new
information of their interest. Broadly speaking, the same is
also termed as current awareness service
though there are some more services falling under the scope
of alerting services. It may be noted that
the term ‘alerting services’, besides containing general
names of the information services, may also
assume some specific names like company profiles,
notification of contracts, product information
bulletins, etc. in the context of a business or industrial
library/information centre.
Alerting services usually referred to as Current Awareness
Services have been important means for
keeping the users up to date in their areas of interest. A
current awareness service may be as simple as
copy of table of contents or a bulletin containing bibliographic
records, of articles selected from the
current issues of journals and other material, and usually
organized by subjects. These services satisfy
the current approach of the users and have several
characteristics. These characteristics have been
described in this module.
In this module, we will learn the various current awareness
services offered by modern library and
information organisations. The various CAS covered include
both the manual and computerised CAS.
The computer based solution offers better services, with
more flexibility and easier maintenance of
the resources along with lower costs.
4. CURRENT AWARENESS SERVICES (CAS)
Alerting Services are also termed as Alert Services or
Current Awareness Services or CAS. These
services assist the library users in keeping up-to-date with
current research in specific areas of
interest. In this context, current awareness refers to a way
to stay up-to-date on the latest information
from journals in a field, to receive automatic alerts about
new information/articles in a specific
research area and using modern technology that helps a user
to organize and mediate the information
that is required to conduct research.
According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, ‘the purpose of a
current-awareness service is to inform the
users about new acquisitions in their libraries. Public
libraries in particular have used display boards
and shelves to draw attention to recent additions, and many
libraries produce complete or selective
lists for circulation to patrons. Some libraries have
adopted a practice of selective dissemination of
information………….’
The CAS are in-house services offered by information
organisations. A successful CAS involves
knowledge of subjects or topics to be covered, which users
require what information, knowing the
sources for obtaining the latest information and making
available required information timely,
regularly and reliably. The major benefits of CAS include
providing the users latest information on
desired topics, saving time and leading to creation of new
ideas.3
The CAS has several advantages over other information
services, which are:
Keeping users better informed
Providing access to needed
information/documents
Supporting academic, professional and
managerial tasks
Automating the process of searching for
retrieving relevant information
Providing information in a preferred
format
4.1 Definition
There are several definitions for CAS and it has been
defined by several prominent library and
information science professionals. Some of these are
mentioned below:
Ranganathan defined CAS as ‘documentation periodical,
listing the documents appearing during the
period covered, and without being, selected to suit the
requirements of a particular reader or of a
specific topic under investigation. This is of the nature of
a general appetiser. It endeavours to keep
the clientele informed promptly of all the nascents thought
created in their fields of work and related
fields.’
Guha defines it as ‘a device of the information system
through which the users of information can be
informed promptly, as soon as possible after publication but
before absorption into the comprehensive
secondary sources of current literature on a broad subject
field or on an area in which a group of
persons are interested, and presented in a manner, a volume,
and rhythm intended to facilitate or
cultivate current approach to information. In the context of
a library, the time limit should be after the
receipt of the publications but well before the receipt of the
secondary publications contains them.’
According to him, CAS is ‘a system of informing the users as
soon as possible after publication.’
Lucille J, Strauss and others have defined it as "the
establishment of a system for reviewing
publications immediately upon receipt, selecting information
pertinent to the programme of the
organisation served, and recording individual items to be
brought to the attention of those persons
whose work they are related. It involves a combination of
processes including the selection of
pertinent information from periodicals, books pamphlets,
patents and reports, in fact, anything of
serious content that is received
Alasdair Kemp defines CAS as ‘a system for reviewing newly
available documents, selecting items
relevant so the needs of an individual or group, and
recording them, so that notifications may be sent
to those individuals or group to whose needs they are
related.’ According to him, CAS is "a system of
informing the users as soon as possible after publication.’
From the above definitions, it is can be seen that CAS is
the process of reviewing selected items
according to the information needs of the users, selecting
the relevant items according to the
information needs of the users’ recording the items systematically,
and sending the notifications to the
users who need it.
4.2 Factors influencing on Current Awareness Service
CAS is influenced by the following factors
a) Current Approach: It is necessary for every information professional to keep abreast with the
current literature or the latest development of subject. He/she must know all the important
areas of research in a subject as soon as published or generated.
b) Continuous need: CAS is very much required where there is continuous need of current
affairs and developments by the users. More the continuous need, more Current Awareness
service.
c) Direct demand: For many specific research areas the user may not be immediately interested
but some of the references may be demanded by them later on urgent basis. For such needs,
some of the references are recorded in diaries or personal file kept with the library or
information professionals, so that when need arises they may be supplied with latest
developments.
4.3 Steps in Current Awareness Service
The steps in the provision of CAS are given bellow:
a) Review or scan documents immediately upon receipt.
b) Select information and record individual documents pertinent to the information requirements
of the individual users or groups being served. This may be done by comparing the
documents/information with the needs of users being served.
c) Send notification to the users about items or information of interest to them.
5. NEED FOR CURRENT AWARENESS SERVICES
Current awareness process is basically the opposite of the retrospective search. The retrospective
search begins with a need to locate information on a specific topic for a specific purpose. The goal of
current awareness on the other hand is less specific. It is the need to understand current developments
in order to do one’s work more effectively. In view of this, following needs for alerting services can
be identified.
5.1 Growth of literature
The published scientific and technical information has grown rapidly on account of large expenditures
on research and developments (R&D) by the government. The enormous growth of scientific
information has caused serious problems of accessibility, storage, retrieval and dissemination for the
researchers, scientists, etc. This results in many problems in accessing the information and keeping
the researchers up-to-date in their areas of interest. CAS enables the researchers, scientists, etc. to
keep themselves up-to-date and well informed in their field of specialization. Thus, CAS aims to serve
the current information needs of the users.
5.2 Interdisciplinary nature of research
The interdisciplinary nature of research, nowadays, results in the scattering of information in different
sources. Same type of information is available in different journals. Further, the information relevant
to a given discipline may also be found in journals of other related disciplines. For example,
information relevant to the Biochemistry may appear in the Journal of Scientific and Industrial
Research, or Indian Journal of Chemistry, etc. It is very difficult for user to find relevant information
and hence there is a need of CAS.
5.3 Types and forms of documents 5
Although the journals are the main source of current information, useful information for researchers
may appear in various types of documents such as journals, reports, seminar papers, etc.
Documentation and information centers are providing a variety of information services in order to
solve this problem. Providing CAS service is one of the important services which alerts the users
about the current developments in their area of interest.
5.4 Users’ help
A user himself may not be able to scan literature as widely, timely and regularly as could be done by
CAS, because its coverage may be wider. Also, there may be some users who do not possess the
ability or willingness to do scanning of sources. In this case, CAS will help the users to keep them
abreast with the latest documents on the subject of their interest. It also helps to bridge the time
interval between the publication of an article and the inclusion of an abstract. Ultimately, the function
of CAS is to reduce the time taken by the specialists to scan the documents in periodicals.
6. CHARACTERISTICS
Characteristics of CAS are as follows:
6.1 Approach not in response to specific query
For any active user, it is necessary to be up-to-date with his/her field of work and interest. Further, as
no field of study can progress in isolation, one has to keep abreast of the developments in a broader
field also. So far as one’s specific field of work is concerned, one has to be very thorough regarding
any important work as and when published or generated. As the current approach is not meant for any
specific information, it implies that a user may not have a specific search formulation while
approaching the information system.
6.2 Continuous need
Another characteristics of current approach is the continuous need irrespective of the stage of research
work in hand, its findings, etc.
6.3 Retrieval not the only intention
This is an important characteristic which emphasizes that it is not always necessary to go to the
original document as retrieval is not always the intention. In most of the cases, the user is satisfied to
know that a particular piece of work has appeared in print or somebody is working on a particular
problem or the results of a particular work is expected to be published in the near future and so on.
Further, for most of the times, the user may get the information from abstracts only. For many of the
items the users may not be immediately interested but some of the references may be noted by
him/her in a diary or a personal file so that when the need arises the same may be retrieved.
6.4 Diverse requirements
CAS keeps the users well-informed and up-to-date about the current developments which take place
in their areas of interest. This is a continuous service provided to the information seekers irrespective
of the stage and progress of their research. There are some of the diverse requirements and
prerequisites of CAS as described below:
CAS is an announcement mechanism and not a pinpointed information; nor a tailor-made or
customised information service.
CAS is provided to meet the current information requirements of the users. 6
CAS is usually provided to a group of users (researchers, scientists, etc. having homogeneous
information requirements), and not to the individuals.
It may be available in a printed, electronic or any other appropriate form acceptable to the
user.
It is to be provided within a time frame (deadline) much before the information is published
in secondary sources such as indexing and abstracting sources.
It should be brought to the notice before the notification in secondary sources of information,
e.g., abstracting and indexing services,
Getting feedback is not a prerequisite in CAS.
Speed, currency and ease to use are three factors to determine the efficiency and effectiveness
of CAS in any organization.
7. CATEGORIES AND TYPES OF CAS
7.1 Categories of CAS
There are generally two kinds of Current Awareness Services that may be recognized.
7.1.1 CAS for all the users
Services which may be provided to all the users to keep them up-to-date. These services include, a
list of recent additions in the libraries, compilation of bibliographies, indexing and abstracting
services, table of contents of journal received in the library, etc. This may be provided in the
following forms:
(a) Contents pages of journals
(b) Library bulletin
(c) List of new additions or accession list
(d) Newspaper clippings
(e) Routing of periodicals
7.1.2 CAS for homogeneous group of users
These are provided to a homogeneous group of users, i.e., users having same subject interest. These
may include communication of information to individuals or group through various means such as by
telephone, conversation, email, routing of journals, etc. These may also include circulation of
materials in anticipation to individuals, keeping in view their information needs.
Those services, which are directed towards all users of the organisation include accession lists (a list
of recent acquisitions), bibliographies, indexing and abstracting services, bibliographic surveys,
literature surveys, table of contents of periodicals received in the library, Current Awareness bulletin,
etc.7
7.2 Types of Current Awareness Services
Different kinds of current awareness services are offered depending upon the requirements of
individual users. Listed below are main types of current awareness services offered by most of the
libraries.
Title announcement services
Announcement of research in progress
Notification of forthcoming conferences
Selective Dissemination of Information (SDl)
Newspaper clipping service
Current awareness bulletin
8. SELECTIVE DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION (SDI)
SDI is a type of CAS which keeps the users in touch with the latest developments in the field of users’
interest. In other words, it is a personalized service meant for the individuals or a group of users
having identical information needs. The characteristics of SDI service are:
It is concerned with the published information.
The source of current information may be available both within and outside the organization.
It is a computerized assisted service.
There is urgent need for selective dissemination of information service for technology enabled
academic, research and other special libraries as:
The literature output at present is multiplying at a fast pace.
The volumes of record information are growing exponentially.
The users do not have time for reading the available voluminous literature in their respective
fields.
Modern technologies can help to satisfy the researchers’ information requirements and their
needs.
8.1 Objectives of Selective dissemination of information
- To provide current information on a particular subject,
- To receive, scan and provide the literature to right users,
-To notify the latest information about the particular subject clearly,
- To delegate the computer base technique for relating current profile of information to the
interest of users,
-To achieve current requirements through the scan of journals, current awareness bulletins, and
other important resources, and
-Expeditious service/time saving.
8.2 Components of SDI
8.2.1 User profile
It contains a file describing the subject field of the researcher by indicating proper indexing terms as
keywords. The process of its creation includes the users’ identification, as individual or a
homogeneous group. The objective is to define the information needs properly. The requirement of
information is collected by using questionnaire which is converted in to machine readable form (user
profile).
8.2.2 Document profile/database
It is a bibliographical record of the documents related to user’s information needs and areas of
interest. It may be in-house or a commercial database. Both the systems have relative advantages and
disadvantages. For example, coverage and scope of commercial database may be more than the inhouse
created one. On the other hand, in-house database despite being very time-consuming as
compared to commercial database, may ensure pin-pointed and better customization of information
requirements
8.2.3 Matching user profile with document profile
It consists of matching the user’s profile (UP) with the document profile (DP), i.e., contents of the DP
with those of UP with the help of a computer. It is advisable to use computer rather than manual work
if users are more than 100 or so. The task of the librarian/information professional is to translate the
information requirements of user in to descriptors taken from the controlled vocabulary or thesaurus
as it helps in perfect searching of documents/information stored in the database.
8.2.4 Notification
It is based on the match between the user’s interest profile and the document profile. At the first
instance, the individual user receives notifications from the system. If any loose match is observed
between his/her profile and any document in the database, the same may be taken care of. Further, the
user may indicate the usefulness of the documents/information disseminated to him/her. The
notification may be sent by taking printouts along with the covering letter and feedback form. The
same may be sent by e-mail or by using Bulletin board service, if the request from users is common.
8.2.5 Feedback
The user is expected to provide feedback to the SDI providers in a prescribed feedback form
indicating whether the documents/information notified is most relevant, relevant but not needed, or
not relevant at all. In case most of the items of information are found useful, then it can be concluded
that the user profile has been properly prepared. On the other hand, if most of the information is not
found useful, then it can be said that user profile does not match with the user’s interest areas and
hence must be modified.
8.2.6 Modification
In case, the user indicates through the feedback form that the output is not useful, the SDI provider
takes action to modify the profile on the basis of the results provided by the user. The reasons for
disseminating information that is not useful are analysed which may result in revision or modification
of the user’s profile. In some cases, the users’ interest may also change due to the change in research
projects or so. In such cases, the modification of user’s profile itself is required. An active interest and
personal contact between the user and the researcher is of great importance to ensure modification of
the profiles.
8.3 Benefits of SDI
In SDI, an accurate representation of a user’s interests is crucial to the performance of personalized
search as this leads to a perfect match of user’s information requirements and the
information/document provided to the user. The following are benefits of SDI service.
a) In view of users interest, it encourages the research scholars to utilize current literature.
b) Satisfies the researchers requirements and their information needs.
c) Enables access to latest and particular subject information very quickly.
d) Motivates research mindset and knowledge skills.
e) Provides quality and current awareness literature.
9. METHODS AND TECHNIQUES OF PROVIDING CAS
Current awareness services alert scholars, researchers, and other users to recently published literature
in their fields of specialization. Librarians who provide these services use various methods to keep
current with academic and professional literature. Traditional methods include routing print journals,
distributing photocopied journal tables of contents, and simply browsing professional publications.
Newer methods include conducting saved searches in preferred databases and creating email table of
contents alerts. CAS can be provided by the following methods:
9.1 Current Awareness Bulletin/List
This is one of the most popular form of current awareness service provided by libraries. In this type of
service, the library or documentation center scans primary journals and other sources of current
information received in the library. It may be provided in the form of library bulletin. It consists of a
list of recent additions or a list of periodicals or indexing periodical (a list of articles from
periodicals). The typical bulletin may contain all or some of the items which are given below:
(a) Library publicity and announcements in general
(b) News items (selected from news in the form of clippings)
(c) Announcements of forthcoming conferences/seminars and meetings
(d) List of current acquisitions (such as books, periodicals)
(e) Details of contents of recent periodicals
(f) Publication details from the secondary sources in original or as the reproduced one
The objective of CAS is to keep the R&D activities of the organisation and other interested
organisations abreast with the current developments in their respective field of interest. For example,
Chemical Titles of the Chemical Abstract Service produced by American Chemical Society, a
professional body. The simplest form of a library bulletin is a list of recent additions. A list of
contents based on journals is a quick and cheap method. Sometimes, it is used as an alternative to
routing of periodicals in many of the areas, especially in science and technology. There are excellent
international indexing and abstracting services, but there is very often time lag in receiving these.
Therefore, local indexing and abstracting services (another name of documentation list) may have to
be brought out. Very often, these services may be found more useful because these are tailor-made or
customized. The scope of the bulletin depends upon the needs of the organisation and the resources
made available to the library.
9.2 Routing of Journals
Routing or circulating the journals is an important means of dissemination of information. Generally
in special libraries/information centers, the bound volumes of journals are circulated, but the current
issues are also routed. Before the current issues of periodicals are issued, the library/information
professional can scan these current issues and mark certain articles to draw the attention of
individuals. In this method the library sends the current issues to the first person on the list, who
passes it on to the next name in the list, ultimately the last person returns it to the library.
9.3 Display
Display is considered as an important method of offering CAS. It is a general practice of a library to
display either all or selective items of recent acquisitions as part of their publicity programme. The
item may be a book or periodical. It may be the jacket of a new book. This enables users to be aware
of recent developments in their field of interest or related areas.
9.4 Research in Progress Bulletin
It is an alerting service which alerts the users about the new research projects and the progress made
in the projects already in progress. This type of service generally requires joint efforts of more than
one organisation or institution working in similar or closely related research areas. A parent body
which funds or controls a group of research organisations could also bring out research-in-progress
bulletin. For example, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Indian Council of
Agricultural Research (ICAR), etc. bring out such bulletins in India.
Research in progress contains information about the organization/laboratory at which the project is
being carried out, name of the researchers, sources of funds, duration of the project, etc. It also
includes information about the status of the research in terms of the progress achieved and thereby
keeps the interested researcher up-to-date.
9.5 Contents by Journal Service
This service can be provided in-house or by commercial publishers. In this service, the library or
documentation centers or commercial publishers distribute a publication which consists of content
pages of the journals in various subject areas. For example, in humanities, social sciences, etc. In this
service, photocopies of the content page of the selected journals can be circulated to the users. There
are some agencies such as Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), Philadelphia (now Thomson
Reuters) which publish the content pages of journals entitled Current Contents which is a rapid
alerting service database.
The main idea behind publishing the content pages of journals is that journals are important medium
for communicating new information. If the users can be regularly informed of articles appearing in
current journals in broader or narrow areas, they would come to know of recent developments that are
taking place in their fields of interest. The simplest way is the duplication of the content pages of the
journals and sending to the users. Another reason of providing this type of service is that this service
enables the users to quickly know the titles of the articles which they value very high. Once they
identify useful papers relating to their field of interest, they can then go to the library and read the
papers.
Alternatively, they can also write to the author of the paper and can get copies of that paper. In this
way, the user can build up good personal collection of articles of his area of interest. For example,
Current Contents published by the Institute of Scientific Information (ISI) in the USA. The Current
Contents—Physical Science, published weekly reproduces the contents pages of over 700 journals.
Nowadays, creation and maintenance of research in progress databases in computer readable form is
available. Such databases can be used both for retrospective search before a new project is formulated
and for CAS too. This will be further discussed in section on Computer-based services.
9.6 Newspaper Clipping Service
Newspapers are considered as a valuable source of current information as these are the current
awareness media. They publish news of recent happenings in various fields such as in politics, health,
sports, business, etc. Newspapers carry useful information for everyone from housewives to top
management. They are of various kinds such as regional, national or international. Some newspapers
specialize in particular subjects such as in Economics and allied fields, for example, Economic Times,
Financial Express. They contain an in-depth knowledge of industry, trade, banking, etc. Important
information available in the newspapers may be useful to the users. Newspaper clipping covers the
clippings of daily newspapers, weeklies, current magazines, etc. Clippings may pertain to different
languages.
Various libraries and documentation centers provide information services based on these newspaper
clippings, known as the newspaper clipping service. For providing newspaper clippings,
libraries/documentation centers subscribe to several newspapers, which may be daily or weekly
newspapers. Each of these newspapers is scanned and any items of interest to the user groups are
clipped, i.e., cut and pasted on a sheet of good quality paper One or more clippings are then assigned
sub-headings or class numbers or some code. At periodic intervals, i.e., daily or, weekly, the clippings
are arranged by subject headings or some code and disseminated to the users. In smaller organisations,
batches of clippings in one or more groups may be circulated to users. In large organisations or where
the circulation is wide, a bulletin containing news items with or without an annotation may be
circulated. The clippings themselves are filled in verified or in file folders for use at later date.
10. COMPUTER-BASED ALERTING SERVICES
Electronic current awareness uses a computer-based technique for matching the contents file of the
information product with the interest profile of the user. The computer based solution offers both a
better service, with more flexibility and easier indexing and maintenance of the library’s database in
the longer term, coupled with lower costs. In ICT-enabled environment, information organisations can
compile current awareness bulletins using predefined search strategy and search directly from the
databases either on CD-ROM or online for getting the desired output. Subject to copyrights, the
output can also be stored on a local system, and disseminated online (internet, intranet) and offline
(print, CDROM, email). Table of contents of most journals are available free from the publishers’
sites. Some publishers even offer free email update of table of contents. A large number of electronic
publishing sites or portals now offer current information via email to registered users. Internet has
also enabled a lot of innovations in contents, methods of production and distribution of current
awareness products.
Given below are some examples of computerised current awareness services.
10.1 Alerting Services, RSS Feeds & Email
At one time, librarians regularly scanned manually through new journal issues, comparing contents
against index cards submitted by uses listing areas of interest and typing up bibliographies of potential
matches. Now alerting services (current awareness services) can provide such lists automatically.
Alerts can be sent from publishers, article-indexing databases, or third parties that combine these
sources.
Alerting services are offered by many databases that allow the users to keep up-to-date with new
research in a particular field of study. For this purpose, one has to get himself/herself registered in
return of which the alerts via email straight to the inbox or via an RSS feed are received. RSS, or
‘Really Simple Syndication’ is a family of formats used to publish frequently updated digital content,
such as blogs, news feeds, journal alerts or podcasts. With an RSS reader (or aggregator) one can
subscribe to many feeds and read the new entries all in one place, without having to visit individual
Web sites to find them. Many publishers are using RSS feeds to provide an alerting service to advise
on new information as it becomes available. Various types of journal alerts are available.
Examples of Alerts via RSS & Email
SCOPUS Multidisciplinary
ISI Web of Knowledge Multidisciplinary
EbscoHost Multidisciplinary
PROQuest Multidisciplinary
Pubmed Nursing; Medicine; Health Sciences
IEEE Xplore Electrical & electronics engineering; IT
EI Engineering Village Engineering, IT, Earth Sciences
Some of the Useful websites are enumerated below:
Feedly RSS Reader - create your own account: http://feedly.com/#discover
Google Alerts (email alerts): http://www.google.com.au/alerts?hl=en
Obtain details of other RSS readers: http://allrss.com/index.html
http://www.dmoz.org/Computers/Software/Internet/Clients/WWW/Feed_Readers/
Subscribe to the FeedMyInbox Service from here: https://www.feedmyinbox.com
TicTOCs - Journal Table of Contents Service: find scholarly journal TOC's and export the
RSS feeds straight to your reader: http://www.tictocs.ac.uk
There are several kinds of alerts one can receive, through email or RSS feeds as listed in subsequent
sections.
10.2 Table of Content Alerts
One can receive the table of contents of newly published journals which have been selected, often
with links to the publisher's site with the article. However, it may not be from the location from where
one can obtain the full article. These are often available well before the print issue is published.
10.3 Search Alerts
These are also called Saved Search Alerts or Keyword Alerts. A search is created that is periodically
re-run, with new matches to one’s search criteria already sent. A well-focused search is then
constructed to limit the number of results sent and to ensure results are on-topic.
10.4 Citation Alerts
One can track when a specified article or author is cited in newly published articles with citation
alerts. Most publisher sites limit results to citations appearing within their own journals, while
databases can provide citations from many sources.
10.5 New Publication Alerts
In this case, notification of new publications (other than journal issues) from a publisher or
professional organization are received. This could include books, proceedings, newsletters, standards,
etc.
Many journal and other academic publishers provide alerting services for their publications. Most
publishers provide this service for free (so a library subscription to their publications is not needed),
though registration is typically required. As is often the case, one can receive alerts to publications to
which the library does not have a subscription, or for which access from another source is
received. For details of publishers, databases, RSS feeds, and books the URL
http://www.lib.vt.edu/help/alerts/ may be visited.
10.6 Software packages for CAS
Many of the databases provided by the academic institutions, e.g., University of Washington (UW)
Libraries offer alert services that automatically send email notifications for new citations or table of
contents that match a requester's interests. These are termed as alert, auto alert or saved search and
the procedures for setting them up vary among vendors, but they generally operate in the same way.
By specifying the search terms or the journal titles, the database automatically provides with updated
results via email. One has to register with a password and establish a profile or personal account
besides providing email id. Some alert services limit the number of searches one can save.
The received items can be scanned through electronic means in order to make CAS more efficient and
current. For example, the same can be put on the LAN of the organization. This service can be
updated more frequently in the computerized mode than the manual mode. This type of service has
more flexibility, currency and fast delivery of information to the end users. It can be generated as
information product of an in-house database. The basic advantage of this mode is that a number of
different information products in printed, and electronic form, can be generated from the same
database. Computerized in-house service offers flexibility and easier indexing and maintenance of
database.
There are number of software packages available commercially which are suitable for the generation
of computerized CAS. Some of the examples are as below:
Software Package Vendor/Supplier
DATAFLEX Data flex
ORBIT Maxwell on-line Inc
TINLIB Information Made Easy Ltd.
STATUS Harwell Computer Power
Besides the above, a number of personal bibliographic software packages are also available, which
support users creating their own database on PCs for storing and displaying of desired records, Some
of the examples are; Reference Manager, ASK SAM, Notebook, etc.
10.6.1 CAS provided by the external agencies
This type of CAS is provided by some external agencies also. These are available from two main
sources:
10.6.1.1 The Online Hosts
Services provided by online hosts are primarily generated from databases mounted by these hosts.
This type of CAS service is available with almost all online hosts in a variety of subject areas.
Notification is received from these hosts in print format, machine readable format, CD-ROM or
directly to the computer of the user.
The following features have made this service more valuable.
Downloads and stores records for future use on the basis of the contractual agreement.
Avoids duplicate records received from various bibliographic databases.
Handles graphics, chemical formula structure, trademarks, design and other complex figures.
Offers cross-file searching ability to use one profile across several databases is available with
online host.
10.6.2 By Database Producers
CAS are also provided by database producers. There are a large number of publishers and
database producers worldwide who offer CAS online. On the basis of subject coverage, libraries and
information centers may select appropriate database.
Some of the important producers and their services are as follows:
10.6.2.1 ISI Alerting Service (http://altertrng, http://isinet.com).
It is an alerting service that includes both profile-based and Tables of Contents (TOC)-based alerting
service. It delivers current bibliographic information. It includes full length, English language author
abstracts in the field of science and technology, social sciences, arts and humanities directly to the
desktop of the user via web or e-mail. It is selected on the basis of the information sources selected by
the user. Users may receive daily or weekly alert service by accessing the web or e-mail Users can
also place order for full text documents from ISI Document Delivery Service
10.6.3 ISI Profile- based Alerting Services
(a) Personal alert: It is a highly customised, profile-based service. It covers literature in over 16,000
science and technology, social sciences and humanities journals, books and conference proceedings.
(b) Discovery agent: It is a web-based alerting service. It can be used by the individuals for
disseminating customised information A user can create and manage personal research profile. The
profiles are filtered against current contents database over good journals.
(c) Research alert: This is a print-based altering service that delivers complete bibliographic
information. It is based on the personalised profiles developed for specific users.
(d) Links alert by Springer: It is a free e-mailing CAS that delivers the table of contents of books
and journals brought out by Springer.
Besides the above, there are a number of publishers and professional agencies offering CAS in
various areas, e.g., DEAL Alert; IEEE-What's new?
10.6.4 E-mail and Bulletin board service
A number of networks offer e-mail and bulletin board services. These are useful for communicating
new information and sharing of research output. These services may be operated within an
organization for free flow of information. Bulletin board services is meant for making general
announcement to all users of a network and is used for publication of newsletters and other
information services
11. SUMMARY
One of the basic functions of the libraries is to keep its users in touch with the its information
resources for maximum utilization. The same are accomplished by way of providing various
information services in anticipation of demands of users. These are collectively termed as Alerting
services and also broadly known as Current awareness services (CAS). The main reasons for
providing these services are because of tremendous growth of literature, Interdisciplinary nature of
research, various types and forms of documents. The characteristics of alerting services have been
described under the heads of ‘Approach not in response to specific query’, ‘Continuous need’,
‘Retrieval not the only intention’, and ‘Diverse requirements’. The typical services under the category
for all users are Contents pages of journals, Library bulletin, List of new additions or accession list,
Newspaper clippings, and Routing of journals. In the second category i.e. Services for homogeneous
group of users include communication of information to individuals or group through various means
such as by telephone, conversation, routing of journals, etc . The various traditional methods of CAS
have been identified as Current awareness bulletin/list: Routing of journals, Research in progress
bulletin, Display, Contents by journal service, and Newspaper clippings. Lastly, a brief account of
some of the computer based alerting services have also been described. These are categorised as Alert
services, RSS feed, Email and Bulletin board services. Typically the users can keep themselves in
touch with not only the table of contents of journals, but also the citation and search alert as per their
needs and requirements in an more efficient and effective way. Apart from journals they can be in
touch with new publications alerts. Many database producers and online hosts provide these types of
services such as SCOPUS, Thomson Reuters (earlier Institute for scientific Information) – to name a
few.
STORY BOARD/CHUNK TEXT
1 INTRODUCTION
All types of libraries, documentation or information centre are organized to provide some of the basic
services which are rendered either in anticipation or on demand from the users.
The information services provided in anticipation are termed as alerting services or current awareness
services (CAS) since these alert the users about the new information of their interest and have broader
scope than CAS.
2 DEFINITIONS OF CAS
There is no unique definition for CAS. It has been defined in number of ways by the library and
information science professionals. Some of these are defined by Ranganathan, Guha, Lucille J,
Strauss, and Alasdair Kemp. From the definitions it can be mentioned that CAS is the process of
reviewing of selected items according to the information needs of the users; selecting the relevant
items according to the information needs of the users; recording the items systematically; and sending
the notifications to the users who need it
3 NEED FOR ALERTING SERVICES
3.1 Growth of literature
The enormous growth of scientific information has caused serious problems of accessibility,
storage, retrieval and dissemination to the researchers, scientists, etc. This results in many problems in
accessing the information and keeping the researchers up-to-date in their areas of interest. CAS
enables the researchers, scientists, etc. to keep themselves up-to-date and well informed in their field
of specialisation.
3.2 Interdisciplinary nature of research
The interdisciplinary nature of research, nowadays, result in the scattering of information in different
sources. Further, the information relevant to a given discipline may also be found in journals of other
related disciplines. It is very difficult for them to find relevant information and hence there is a need
of CAS.
3.3 Types and forms of documents:
Though the journal is the main source of current information, useful information for researchers may
appear in various types of documents such as journals, reports, seminar papers, etc. Documentation
and information centres are providing a variety of information services in order to solve this problem.
3.4 Users’ help
A user himself may not be able to scan literature as widely, timely and regularly as could be done by
CAS, because its coverage may be wider. In this case, CAS will help the user to keep them abreast
with the latest documents on the subject of their interest. It also helps to bridge the lime interval
between the publication of an article and the inclusion of an abstract.
4 CHARACTERISTICS
4.1 Approach not in response to specific query
For any active user, it is necessary to be up-to-date with his/her field of work and interest besides a
broader field also. So far as one’s specific field of work is concerned, one has to be very thorough
regarding any important work as and when published or generated. Since the current approach is not
meant for any specific information, it implies that a user may not have a specific search formulation
while approaching the information system.
4.2 Continuous need
Another characteristics of current approach is the continuous need irrespective of the stage of research
work in hand, its findings etc.
4.3 Retrieval not the only intention
This is an important characteristic which emphasizes that it is not always necessary to go to the
original document as retrieval is not always the intention. In most of the cases, the user is satisfied to
know that a particular piece of work has appeared in print or somebody is working on a particular
problem or the results of a particular work is expected to be published in the near future . These may
include abstracts only or references to be noted in his/her personal diary.
4.4 Diverse requirements
CAS is an announcement mechanism and not a pinpointed information; nor a tailor-made or
customised information service
CAS is provided to meet the current information requirement of the user.
CAS is usually provided to a group of users (researchers, scientists, etc. having homogeneous
information requirements), and not to the individuals.
It may be available in a printed, electronic or any other appropriate form acceptable to the
user.
It is to be provided within a time frame (deadline) much before the information is published
in secondary sources such as indexing and abstracting sources.
It should be brought to the notice before the notification in secondary sources of information
e.g. abstracting and indexing services
Getting feedback is not a prerequisite in CAS.
Speed, currency and ease to use are three factors to determine the efficiency and effectiveness
of CAS in any organisation.
5 CATEGORIES AND TYPES OF CAS
There are generally two kinds of CAS
5.1 Services for all the users
(a) Contents pages of journals
(b) Library bulletin
(c) List of new additions or accession list
(d) Newspaper clippings
(e) Routing of periodicals
5.2 Services for homogeneous group of users
Services which may be provided to a homogeneous group of users i.e. having same interest. These
may include communication of information to individuals or group through various means such as by
telephone, conversation, routing of journals, etc These may also include circulations of materials in
anticipation to individuals, keeping in view their information needs.
5.3 Types of current awareness services
Title announcement services
Announcement of research in progress
Notification of forthcoming conferences
Selective Dissemination of Information (SDl)
Newspaper clipping service
Current awareness bulletin
6. SELECTIVE DISSEMINATION OF INFORMATION (SDI)
SDI is a type of CAS which keeps the user in touch with the latest developments in the field
of user’s interest. In other words it is the personalized service meant for the individual or a
group of users having identical information needs. The characteristics of SDI service are:
It is concerned with the published information
The source of current information may be available both within and outside the
organization
It is a computerized assisted service
6.1 COMPONENTS OF SDI
6.1.1 User profile
It contains a file describing the subject field of the researcher by indicating proper indexing
terms as keywords. The process of its creation includes the users identification, as individual
or a homogeneous group. The objective is to define the information needs properly. The
requirement of information is collected by using questionnaire which is converted in to
machine readable form (user profile).
6.1.2 Document profile/database
It is a bibliographical record of the documents related to user’s information needs and areas
of interest. It may be in-house or commercial database. Both the systems have relative
advantages and disadvantages. For example, coverage and scope of commercial database may
be more than the in-house created one. On the other hand, in-house database despite being
very time-consuming as compared to commercial database, may ensure pin-pointed and
more customization of information requirements
6.1.3 Matching user profile with document profile
It consists of matching the user’s profile (UP) with the document profile (DP) i.e contents of
the DP with those of UP with the help of computer. It is advisable to use computer rather than
manual work if users are more than 100 or so. The task of the librarian is to translate the
concept of user in to descriptors taken from the controlled vocabulary or thesaurus since it
helps in perfect searching of documents information stored in the database.
6.1.4 Notification
It is based on the match between the user’s interest profile and the document profile. At the
first instance, the individual user receives notifications from the system, if any loose match is
observed between his/her profile and any document in the database. Further, the user may
indicate the usefulness of the documents information disseminated to him/her. The
notification may be sent by taking printouts along with the covering letter and feedback form.
The same may be sent by e-mail or by using Bulletin board service, if the request from users
is common.
6.1.5 Feedback
The user is expected to provide feedback to the SDI providers in a prescribed feedback form
indicating whether the documents information notified is most relevant, relevant but not
needed, or not relevant at all. In case most of the items of information are found useful, then
it can be concluded that the user profile has been properly prepared. On the other hand, if
most of the information is not found useful, then it can be said that user profile does not
match with the user’s interest and must be modified.
6.1.6 Modification
In case, the user indicates through the feedback form that the output is not useful, the SDI
provider takes action to modify the profile on the basis of the results provided by the user.
The reasons for disseminating of information that are not useful are analysed which may 19
result in revision or modification of the user’s profile. In some cases, the users interest may
also change due to the change in research projects or so. In such cases, the modification of
user’s profile itself is required. An active interest and personal contact between the user and
the researcher is of great importance to ensure modification of the profiles.
7. METHODS AND TECHNIQUES OF PROVIDING CAS
7.1 Current awareness bulletin/list:
It consists of a list of recent additions or a list of periodicals or indexing periodical (a list of articles
from periodicals).The typical bulletin may contain all or some of the items which are given below;
(a) Library publicity and announcements in general
(b) News items (selected from news in the form of clippings)
(c) Announcements of forthcoming conferences and meetings
(d) List of current acquisitions (such as books, periodicals)
(e) Details of contents of recent periodicals
{f) Publications details from the secondary sources in original or as the reproduced one.
7.2 Routing of journals
Generally in special libraries/information centres, the bound volumes of journals are circulated, but
the current issues are also routed. Before the current issues of periodicals are issued, the reference:
librarian/information officer can scan these current issues and mark certain articles to draw the
attention of individuals. In this method the library sends the current issues to the first person on the
list, who passes it on to the next name in the list, ultimately the last person returns it to the library.
7.3 Display
It is a general, practice of a library to display either all or selective items of recent acquisitions as part
of their publicity programme. The item may be a book or periodical. It may be a jacket of a new book.
7.4 Research in progress bulletin
It is an alerting service which alerts the users about the new research projects and the progress made
in the same in hand. Research in progress contains the information about the laboratory at which the
project is being done, name of the researchers., sources of funds, duration of the project etc. It also
includes information about the status of the research in terms of the progress achieved, and keeps upto-date
7.5 Contents by journal service
A library distributes a publication which consists of content pages of the journals in various subject
areas. In this service, photocopies of the content page of the selected journals can be circulated to the
users There are some agencies such as Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), Philadelphia (now
Thomson Reuters) which publish the content pages of journals entitled current contents which is a
rapid alerting service database. The simplest way is the duplication of the content pages of the journal.
Example: Current Contents published by the Institute of Scientific Information (ISI) in the USA. The
Current Contents—Physical Science, published weekly reproduced the contents pages of over 700
journals.
7.6. Newspaper clipping service
Newspapers carry useful information to everyone from housewives to top management. They are of
various kinds such as regional, national or international. Newspaper clipping covers the clippings of
daily newspapers, weeklies, current magazines, etc. Clippings may pertain to different
languages.Various libraries and documentation centres provide information, services based on these
newspaper clippings. They maintain newspaper clippings for providing these types of services. This
service is known as newspaper clipping service. Each newspaper is scanned and any items of interest
to the user group are clipped (i.e, cut) and pasted on a sheet of good quality paper One or more
clippings are then assigned sub-headings or class numbers or some code. At periodic intervals (i.e.
daily or, weekly), the clippings are arranged by subject headings or some code and disseminated to
the users. The clippings themselves are filled in verified or in file folders for use at later date.
8. COMPUTER-BASED ALERTING SERVICES
8.1 Alerting Services, RSS Feeds & Email
Alerting services can provide current contents lists automatically. Alerts can be sent from publishers,
article-indexing databases, or third parties that combines these sources. For this purpose one has to get
himself/herself registered in return of which the alerts via email straight to the inbox or via an RSS
feed are received. RSS, or "Really Simple Syndication" is a family of formats used to publish
frequently updated digital content, such as blogs, news feeds, journal alerts or podcasts. With an RSS
reader (or aggregator) one can subscribe to many feeds and read the new entries all in one place,
without having to visit individual Web sites to find them. Many publishers are using RSS feeds to
provide an alerting service to advise on new information as it becomes available. Various types of
journal alerts are available:
Examples of Alerts via RSS & Email
SCOPUS Multidisciplinary
ISI Web of Knowledge Multidisciplinary
EbscoHost Multidisciplinary
PROQuest Multidisciplinary
Pubmed Nursing; Medicine; Health Sciences
IEEE Xplore Electrical & electronics engineering; IT
EI Engineering Village Engineering, IT, Earth Sciences
There are several kinds of alerts one can receive, through email or RSS feeds:
7.2 Table of content alerts
One can receive the table of contents of newly published journals which have been selected, often
with links to the publisher's site with the article. However, it may not be the location where one obtain
the article. These are often available well before the print issue is published.
8.3 Search alerts21
This is also called Saved Search Alerts or Keyword Alerts. A search is created that is periodically rerun,
with new matches to one’s search criteria already sent. A well focused search is then constructed
to limit the number of results sent and to ensure results are on-topic.
8.4 Citation alerts
One can track when a specified article or author is cited in newly published articles with citation
alerts. Most publisher sites limit results to citations appearing within their own journals, while
databases can provide citations from many sources.
8.5 New publication alerts
Notification of new publications (other than journal issues) from a publisher or professional
organization are received. This could include books, proceedings, newsletters, standards, etc.
Many journal and other academic publishers provide alerting services for their publications. Most
publishers provide this service for free (so a library subscription to their publications is not needed),
though registration is typically required. As is often the case, one can receive alerts to publications to
which the library does not have a subscription, or for which access from another source is received.
8.6 Software packages for CAS
Many of the databases provided by the academic institutions e.g. University of Washington (UW)
Libraries offer alert services that automatically send email notifications for new citations or table of
contents that match a requester's interests. These are termed as alert, autoalert, saved search and the
procedures for setting them up vary among vendors, but they generally operate in the same way. By
specifying the search terms or the journal titles, the database automatically provides with updated
results via email. One has to register with a password and establish a profile or personal account
besides providing email id. Some alert services limit the number of searches one can save.
There are number of software packages available commercially which are suitable for the generation
of computerised CAS. Some of the examples are shown below:
Software Package Vendor/Supplier
DATAFLEX Data flex
ORBIT Maxwell on-line Inc
TINLIB Information Made Easy Ltd.
STATUS Harwell Computer Power
Besides the above, a number of personal bibliographic software packages are also available, which
support users creating their own database on PCs for storing and displaying of desired records, Some
of the examples are; Reference Manager, ASK SAM, Notebook, etc,
8.6.1 CAS PROVIDED BY THE EXTERNAL AGENCIES
8.6.1.1 The online hosts
Services provided by online hosts are primarily generated from database mounted by these hosts. This
type of CAS service is available with almost all online hosts in a variety of subject areas. Notification
is received from these hosts in print format, machine readable format, CD-ROM or directly to the
computer of the user.
8.6.1 CAS PROVIDED BY THE EXTERNAL AGENCIES
8.6.1.1 The online hosts
Services provided by online hosts are primarily generated
from database mounted by these hosts. This
type of CAS service is available with almost all online
hosts in a variety of subject areas. Notification
is received from these hosts in print format, machine
readable format, CD-ROM or directly to the
computer of the user. Features of the service:
(a) It downloads and stores records for future use on the
basis of the contractual agreement.
(b) It avoids duplicate records received, from various
bibliographic database
(c) It handles graphics, chemical formula structure,
trademarks, design and other complex figures.
(d) Its cross-file searching ability to use one profile
across several databases is available with online
host
8.6.2 By database producers
There are a large number of publishers and database
producers worldwide who offer CAS online. On
the basis of subject coverage, libraries and information
centres may select appropriate database.
Important producers providing services:
8.6.2.1 ISI Alerting Service (http://altertrng,
http://isinet.com).
It is an alerting service that include both profile-based
and Tables of Contents (TOC)-based alerting
service. It delivers current bibliographic information. It
includes full length, English language author
abstract in the field of science and technology, social
sciences, arts and humanities directly to the
desktop of the user via web or e-mail. It is selected on the
basis of the information sources selected by
the user.
8.6.3 ISI profile- based alerting services
(a) Personal alert: It is a highly customised, profile-based
service. It covers literature in over 16,000
science and technology, social sciences and humanities
journals, books and conference proceedings.
(b) Discovery agent: It is a web-based alerting service. It
can be used by the individuals for
disseminating customised information A user can create and
manage personal research profile. The
profiles are filtered against current contents database over
good journals.
(c) Research alert: This is a print-based altering service
that delivers complete bibliographic
information. It is based on the personalised profiles
developed for specific users.
(d) Links alert by Springer: It is a free e-mailing CAS that
delivers the table of contents of books
and journals brought out by Springer.
8.6.4 E-mail and Bulletin board service
A number of networks offer e-mail and bulletin board
services. These are useful for communicating
new information and sharing of research output. These
services may be operated within an
organisation for free flow of information. Bulletin board
services is meant for making general
announcement to all users of a network and is used for
publication of newsletters and other
information services.
http://epgp.inflibnet.ac.in/vt/ls/isss/m23/sa.pdf
ASSESSMENT &EVALUATION
A. Multiple Choice Questions with Answers
1. Current Awareness service fulfils the need for users having
a. Specific subject query
b. Continuous need and approach for information
c. Occasional need for information
2. Following trademark represents an example of alerting service via RSS and e-mail
a. DATAFLEX
b. TINLIB
c. SCOPUS
3. IEEE Xplore as alerting service deals with the subject on
a. Electrical and electronic engineering
b. Information Technology
c. Both a. and b. above
4. The simplest form of a library bulletin is
a. Table of contents
b. Recent additions
c. None of the above
5. Autoalert is a type of alerting service from
a. University of Wisconsin Libraries
b. National library of United States
c. University of Washington Libraries
Answers: 1. b 2. c 3. c 4. b 5. c
B. True & False Statements
1. Selective dissemination of Information is a also a form of Current awareness service.
2. Users have a specific search formulation while approaching the information system in the
context of Current awareness service
3. Current awareness service is only provided to a group of users like researchers, scientists etc. 4. Current awareness service is provided much before the information is published in secondary
source
5. ‘Discovery agent’ is a web-based alerting service
Correct Answer
1. True
2. False
3. False
4. True
5. True
C. Fill in the Blanks
1. An important characteristics of alerting services is that-----------------is not the only intention
2. The alerting service which alerts about the new research projects is known as -------------------
--.
3. In the examples of alerts via RSS and e-mail, --------------- deals with Medicine and health
sciences
4. Journal table of contents service for finding scholarly journals is known as-----------------------
---------
5. The alerting services which is meant for making general announcements to all users of a
network is known as----------------------
Correct Answer
1. Retrieval
2. Research in Progress bulletin
3. Pubmed
4. TicTocs
5. Bulletin Board service
http://epgp.inflibnet.ac.in/vt/ls/isss/m23/lm.pdf
A. GLOSSARY
Starting
Character
Term Definition Related
Term
L LAN A local area network (LAN) is a group of
computers and associated devices that share a
common communications line or wireless link.
Typically, connected devices share the
resources of a single processor or server within
a small geographic area (for example, within an
office building). Usually, the server has
applications and data storage that are shared in
common by multiple computer users
P Podcast A multimedia digital file made available on
the Internet for downloading to a portable
media player, computer, etc.
R RSS feed RSS stands for ‘Really Simple Syndication’.
Many people describe it as a ‘news feed’ that
one subscribes to. RSS is a technology that
provides us with a method of getting relevant
and up to date information sent to us for
reading in our own time. It saves our time and
helps us to get the information we want
quickly after it is published.
S SDI Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI)
is a personal current awareness service
providing researchers with the latest
publications on a specified research topic. Once
a search profile is created and saved, relevant
information will be sent to the researcher
automatically whenever the selected databases
are updated.
B. WEB LINKS / REFERENCES
References
Fourie, I. "Empowering users – current awareness on the Internet", The Electronic
Library, 17 (1999), no. 6, 379 – 388
Guha, B :Documentation and Information : Services, Techniques and Systems. The
world Press, Calcutta, 1983, 380pp
Guha, B. “The current papers in Physics and the state of current awareness service”
Annals of Library and Information studies 13, no. 1 (1966), 34-37
Joshi, Meera G and Narayana, GJ. “Current awareness service- what it is?” Annals
of Library and Information Studies 19, no. 4 (1972), 179-84.
Leggate, P. Computer-based current awareness services. Journal of Documentation,
31 (2005), no. 2, 93 – 115
Ranganathan, SR. Documentation and its facets. Asia Publishing, Mumbai, 1963,
Chap B32
Weisman, HM. Information Systems, Services, and Centres, Becker, New York,
1972
http://feedly.com/#discover
http://www.google.com.au/alerts?hl=en
http://allrss.com/index.html
http://www.dmoz.org/Computers/Software/Internet/Clients/WWW/Feed_Readers/
https://www.feedmyinbox.com
http://www.tictocs.ac.uk
http://www.lib.vt.edu/help/alerts/
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