Alert Services (also known as Alerting Services or Current Awareness Services) are services which researchers can use to keep up to date with the latest references, journal articles, or books in their areas of interest. They are particularly useful, especially when your research extends over a long period, e.g., working towards a dissertation or thesis.
Many of the databases, which PolyU Library subscribes to, provide the option of setting up an alerting service. It is necessary to register with a database or publisher site in order to set up an alert. Notification of new research information will be delivered in the form of either regular email alerts or RSS (Real Simple Syndication) feeds. Depending on individual database, alerts may be in the form of:
- TOC alert: table of contents of newly released journal issues, e.g., in ACM Digital Library and RSC Journals;
- Search alert: recent articles matching previously submitted searches, e.g., in CSA databases and Journals@Ovid;
- Citation alert: get alert when the article you specified is cited by another article, e.g., in Scopus & Web of Science.
Please refer to the table that summarizes the availability of alert services across different database platforms.
For more details or advice, please contact your Faculty Librarian for details.