1. Instructors: Susan Atkey Librarian, Koerner Library (susan.atkey@ubc.ca) Sally Taylor Librarian, Woodward Library (sally.taylor@ubc.ca)

2. Workshop Objectives oTo begin discussion: “How do you stay current” in your field? oTo raise awareness of various e- alerts, tools and services oTo help you identify which tools will work best for your needs

3. How do you currently stay up-to-date and informed on new publications and research in your field?

4. Today’s Agenda 6 types of Alerts 1.Saved Search 2.Journal Table of Contents 3.Citation Alerts 4.New Books 5.Conferences & Funding 6.News & blogs 2 Delivery Methods 1.RSS 2.Email alerts

5. Delivery method 1: Email oEmail alerts are regular notifications via email of the results of your specified search. + Pros +- Cons - Receive alerts in one place - no need to log in to a separate reader Adds to your email inbox – too many emails can be overwhelming!

6. Delivery method 2: RSS Feed oRSS is a technology that automatically updates when new content is published oAs new content is published, the feed automatically refreshes + Pros +- Cons - keeps alerts out of your email inbox Can view alerts on your schedule need to log into a reader to view

7. Introduction to RSS Feeds RSS In Plain English An excellent 4- minute video introduction to the how and why of RSS URL: http://www.commoncraft.com/rss_plain_englishhttp://www.commoncraft.com/rss_plain_english

8. Recap: What you’ll need for RSS 1. An RSS reader (aka feed reader) Popular readers include Bloglines, Google Reader 2. An RSS feed Many scholarly journals, publications, blogs, news sites, podcasts, and videos offer RSS Feeds to their content. Look for these icons:

9. Scenario One : Do you want to: oKeep up-to-date on research in a variety of fields? oKeep on top of new research that is being published in a variety of disciplines without having to search each database? oSee what dissertations have been written recently on your topic?

10. Solution: Saved Search Alerts oA Saved Search Alert is based on a search in a database, group of databases, or at the publisher’s website. o The search is run at specified intervals and you are alerted if any new articles on your topic are available. oYou can set a search alert using any index available in the database, e.g., keywords, authors, journal title, etc.

11. Solution: Saved Search Alerts oMany of the databases that UBC Library subscribes to offer an alerting service, including databases from the large vendors like EBSCO, CSA, ProQuest, ISI, and OVID. oAll databases can be accessed through the Indexes and Databases A-Z list on the library home page (under e-Resources)

12. Setting up a Search Alert via EBSCO oLet’s walk through a Saved Search Alert using the EBSCO database Academic Search Complete (ASC) as our source. oFind Academic Search Complete in the list of indexes and databases oSee handouts for step-by-step instructions

13. Hands-on Set up a Saved Search Alert for your research topic via a subject database (10 minutes)

14. Scenario Two : Do you want to: oKeep up-to-date with a few key journals in your field? oBe notified about all articles that are published in a key association publication without having to constantly visit the library or the publisher’s website? oBe notified when a new journal issue is out, and what the contents are?

15. Solution: Table of Contents (ToC) Alerts oTables of Contents of selected journals are sent to you when a new issue is released oYou don’t need to come to the Library to browse the most recent issue oYou usually need to create an account and sign in to save and edit alerts

16. Journal Table of Contents Alerts To find your journal, you can: oSearch the UBC Library journal list for the title, or oGoogle the journal title

17. Journal Table of Contents Alerts oIf the journal is available online, follow the link to the ejournal page to see if they offer alerts oTo find the alert service at the publisher’s or journal’s website, look for terms like: alert(s) subscribe notify me email Table of Contents set email alert RSS or RSS feed

18. Journal Table of Contents Alerts oLet’s set up a Table of Contents Alert for the journal Communication, Culture & Critique starting from the UBC Library journal list

19. Journal Table of Contents Alerts oGo to the Print & Electronic journals link on the library homepage and look up the journal …

20. Journal Table of Contents Alerts

21. oClick the “set e-mail alert” or “RSS feed” link oIf necessary, login to your account (many publishers require you to register and account with them in order to set up an alert)

22. Hands-on Set up a Table of Contents Alert for your favorite journal via the publisher’s website (10 minutes)

23. Scenario Three : Do you want to: oGet notified when an article of interest is referenced or cited by another article? oBe updated when your own publication is cited by others?

24. Solution: Citation Alerts oSome databases allow you to be alerted when a specific author or a specific publication is cited in another publication. oA Citation Alert notifies you by email when an article of interest is referenced or cited by another article.

25. Setting up a Citation Alert in Web of Science oStep 1 : Find the article of interest by running a search or browsing journals or books. oStep 2 : While viewing the article, click the Create Citation Alert button.

26. Scenario Four : Do you want to: oGet notified when conferences or new sources of funding are available that fit your profile?

27. Solution: Community of Scholar databases oCOS PapersInvited: search for upcoming conferences, special journal issues and student competitions oCOS Funding Opportunities: search by funding type, requirements, activity location, citizenship

28. COS: setting up an alert oSearch either database oClick “Alert Me” oCreate a My Research account oSelect Email or RSS for delivery

29. Hands-on Set up an alert for: Citation OR Conferences and funding (10 minutes)

30. Scenario Five : Do you want to: oGet notified when new items (books, videos, music, maps) in your area are added to the UBC library collection?

31. Solution: New Materials at UBC oThe UBC Library New Materials and Resources page allows you to see new materials added to the UBC Library collection in your area ohttp://newbooks.library.ubc.cahttp://newbooks.library.ubc.ca

32. Solution: New Materials at UBC oClick the “New Materials and Resources” link on the library homepage

33. Solution: New Materials at UBC oSet your parameters: o Subject oCall number range(s) oBranches oFormat oLanguages oClick the RSS icon to generate an RSS feed

34. Scenario Six Do you want to: o keep informed on new postings by favourite bloggers? oGet up-to-the-minute results on news stories and events? oBe notified of updates to favorite websites?

35. Solutions: News and Blogs alerts oGoogle Alerts are email updates of the latest relevant Google results (web, news, etc.) based on your choice of topic. oOnly available as an email alert – no RSS. oSome handy uses of Google Alerts include: monitoring a developing news story keeping current on a competitor or industry

36. To set up a Google Alert oGo to the Google Alerts page: http://www.google.ca/alerts http://www.google.ca/alerts oEnter the topic you wish to monitor oEnter the type of source you wish to monitor: News, blogs, web, video, groups, comprehensive (‘comprehensive’ includes multiple sources from News, Web and Blogs) oEnter the frequency As-it-happens, once a day, once a week oEnter your email

37. To set up a Google Alert

38. Blog postings oMost blogs allow you to subscribe to new posts or comments via RSS. oSince blog postings don’t usually follow a fixed publication schedule, using RSS allows you to get notified of new posts as they happen.

39. Hands-on Set up an alert for: New resources at UBC Library OR news and blogs (10 minutes)

40. Questions?

41. For further help: oUBC Library Guide: Current Awareness Tools http://toby.library.ubc.ca/subjects/subjpage2.cfm?id=623 http://toby.library.ubc.ca/subjects/subjpage2.cfm?id=623 oAsk Your Subject Librarian: http://toby.library.ubc.ca/libstaff/subjectlibrarians.cfm http://toby.library.ubc.ca/libstaff/subjectlibrarians.cfm