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Franklin D. Schurz Library

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Alert Services: Saving the time of the researcher

It certainly comes as no surprise that information is proliferating at a speed much faster than anyone can keep up with. Many researchers find it hard to find the time to read through their personal journal subscriptions, let alone browse through all of the ones to which the Library provides access. Fortunately, help is now available.

Most of the Library's online resources have "alert services." Depending on the resource, you may request that a search on your topic be performed periodically with the results being sent to your email account and/or that the Table of Contents (TOC) of specific journals be e-mailed to you each time a new issue is published.

The names of these services (AutoAlert, SDI, etc.) and the exact procedures for requesting the service vary from vendor to vendor, but the general principle is the same. You specify the search terms or the journal titles and the system will automatically provide you with updated results. For some, you must register with a password and establish a profile or personal account; for others, you simply provide your email address. Some limit the number of search strings you can save. In many of the databases, you can define how often a search is run (daily, weekly, monthly), but others have determined a set frequency. A few of these databases won't run your search automatically, but do allow you to save it to allow you to run it again at a later time. Because of these differences, we don't have space to include all the directions here. However, each database provides instructions through their "Help" feature. If you have problems or other questions, contact the Reference Desk (refquest@iusb.edu or 520-4441.)

The chart below provides a list of Library databases that have an alert service. All of them can be accessed through our homepage.

Database/Vendor

 

Auto Subject Search

 

TOC

 

Notes

 

AARP Ageline

(OVID)

 X   Save search as AutoAlert (SDI)

ACM Digital Library

(Association of Computer Machinery)

 

     Alert service only available to those with personal subscriptions.

Academic Search Premier

(EBSCO)

 

 X  

Works only in Advanced Search. Save search history as Alert.

Interdisciplinary Database.

America: History and Life

(ABC-CLIO)

 

 X   CLIO Alert Profile available on first screen in database.
American Chemical Society

 

 X X Articles ASAP/ TOC Alert available for most journal titles.

American Humanities Index
(EBSCO)

 X   Works only in Advanced Search. Save search history as Alert.

Applied Science and Technology Index

(SilverPlatter)

 

 X   Save search history as SDI.
Art Index
(SilverPlatter) 		X   Save search history as SDI.

Biological Sciences

(Cambridge Scientific Abstracts)

 

 X   Search History/Alerts.

Biology Digest

(Cambridge Scientific Abstracts)

 

 X   Save search as Alert.

Business Source Premier

(EBSCO)

 

 X   Works only in Advanced Search. Save search history as Alert.

CINAHL

(OVID)

 

 X   Save search as AutoAlert (SDI). Nursing and Allied Health
Clinical Pharmacology
(EBSCO) 		X   Works only in Advanced Search. Save search history as Alert.
Communication and Mass Media Complete
(EBSCO) 		X   Works only in Advanced Search. Save search history as Alert.

Conference Papers Index

(Cambridge Scientific Abstracts)

 

 X  

Save search as Alert.

Citations to papers presented at major life science meetings around the world.
Corporate ResourceNet
(EBSCO) 		X   Works only in Advanced Search. Save search history as Alert.
Criminal Justice Abstracts
(SilverPlatter) 		X   Save search history as SDI.

Emerald

 

 X X

Save search as e-mail Alert.

Full text of over 100 journals primarily in management, accounting, education, human resources, and marketing.

Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management (Cambridge Scientific Abstracts)

 

 X   Save search as Alert.

ERIC (Educational Resources)

(Cambridge Scientific Abstracts and EBSCO)

 

 X  

Save search as Alert. (CSA)

Works only in Advanced Search. Save search history as Alert. (EBSCO)

General Science Index

(SilverPlatter)

 

 X   Save search history as SDI.

Health and Psychosocial Instruments

(OVID)

 

 X   Save search as AutoAlert (SDI).
Health Business Fulltext
(EBSCO) 		X   Works only in Advanced Search. Save search history as Alert.

Health Source: Consumer Edition

(EBSCO)

 

 X   Works only in Advanced Search. Save search history as Alert.

Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition

(EBSCO)

 

 X   Works only in Advanced Search. Save search history as Alert.

HealthSTAR / Ovid Healthstar

(OVID)

 

 X   AutoAlert (SDI).

Historical Abstracts

(ABC-CLIO)

 

 X   CLIO Alert Profile available on first screen in database.

Ingenta

 

 X X

Establish personal account. Save search as Alert.

Indexes over 26,000 publications.
Journals@Ovid Full Text

(OVID)

 

 X  

Save search as AutoAlert (SDI).

Indexes hundreds of scientific, technical, and medical journals.
Knight Ridder Collection
(EBSCO) 		X   Works only in Advanced Search. Save search history as Alert.
Library Literature
(SilverPlatter) 		X   Save search history as SDI.

MLA Int'l. Bibliography: Modern Language Association

(EBSCO)

 

 X   Works only in Advanced Search. Save search history as Alert.

Covers literature, language, linguistics, and folklore.

MasterFILE Premier

(EBSCO)

 

 X   Works only in Advanced Search. Save search history as Alert.

Full text for over 1,900 periodicals covering nearly all subjects.

MEDLINE

(Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, OVID, and EBSCO)

 

 X
X
X 		  Search History/Alerts(Cambridge Scientific Abstracts). Save search as AutoAlert (SDI)(OVID). Works only in Advanced Search. Save search history as Alert (EBSCO).

Military and Government Collection

(EBSCO)

 

 X   Works only in Advanced Search. Save search history as Alert.

Newspaper Source

(EBSCO)

 

 X   Works only in Advanced Search. Save search history as Alert.

Plant Science

(Cambridge Scientific Abstracts)

 

 X   Save search as Alert.

Professional Development Collection

(EBSCO)

 

 X  

Works only in Advanced Search. Save search history as Alert.

A highly specialized collection of over 515 full text journals designed for professional educators.
PsycARTICLES
(EBSCO) 		X   Works only in Advanced Search. Save search history as Alert.

PsycINFO

(EBSCO)

 

 X   Works only in Advanced Search. Save search history as Alert.

Regional Business News

(EBSCO)

 

 X   Works only in Advanced Search. Save search history as Alert.

Social Services Abstracts

(Cambridge Scientific Abstracts)

 

 X   Save search as Alert.

Social Work Abstracts

(SilverPlatter)

 

 X   Save search history as SDI.

Sociological Abstracts

(Cambridge Scientific Abstracts)

 

 X   Save search as Alert.

TOXLINE

(Cambridge Scientific Abstracts)

 

 X   Save search as Alert.

Wiley Interscience

 

 X X

Establish "My Profile" select Alert Preference for either Saved Titles (TOC) or Saved Searches for subject search.

Full text of over 300 scientific, technical, medical, and professional journals.