Keep Current with your Research: Using Alerts

• Are free services
• Alerts are automatic notifications, through email or other delivery systems, when materials within your areas of interest are available or added to databases, websites, blogs, Google/Google Scholar, Twitter etc. 
• Alerts can also come through previous searches.
  • Ever developed a successful search strategy--one that resulted in just perfect results?  You can save that search strategy and then develop alerts for new content in publications that fall within the parameters of that successful (perfect) search.
• Also called awareness services or current awareness services.
  • Information providers may refer to their alerting services using different names.

Why bother with alerts?

If you are having trouble juggling the volumes of available information while struggling to remain (become or stay) up-to-date? 

Alerts:

• Help you manage the overwhelming amount of information available; lessen the sense/feeling of information overload.
  • You are in control of both the number of alerts you receive as well as how often each alert is delivered to you.  After your alerts are set-up, you receive regular electronic notification of new materials--and you control when and how often you receive the alerts.
• Keep you up-to-date with the latest article, journals, books, blogs etc.