Using an alerting service will help you to keep up to date with current research in your area of interest and can save you time.

What does an alerting service do?

• It can save a search within a database for re-running in the future when you revisit the database.
• It can save your search so you will automatically be sent records which match your search criteria when new records are added to the database.
• It can send you details of the table of contents of journals that you are interested in.

How do I set up an alert?

• When using a database look for an option to register or save your search strategy.
• The service may be called by differerent names, such as current awareness, SDI (selective dissemination of information), autoalert, save sets, saved searches or histories.
• You may need to set up a password for your alert and enter your email address.
• For some databases, eg Web of Knowledge, you have to save your search history to your computer drive, so you will need to ensure you have access to the same drive when you want to re-run your search.