Alerting Services allow you to keep up to date with the latest research and literature in your field of study. Most of the databases to which the library subscribes provides these services as do most journal publishers and even certain websites. Types of these Alerts include:
- Table of Contents Alerts (TOC) - The Table of Contents of selected journals are sent to you by email.
- Saved Search Alerts (SSA) - A Saved Search Alert is based on a previous database search. The search is run at specified intervals, usually weekly, and you are alerted if any news articles based on your search have been published.
- Citation Alerts (CA) - A Citation Alert notifies you by email when an article of interest is referenced or cited by another article.
- New Publications Alert (NPA) - Notifies the user of new publications (not journal issues) available from the publisher or organization.
- RSS Feeds is another way to receive information on updates or changes for journals or websites.
For most alert services you must register with a password and establish a profile or personal account; for others you simply provide your email address. Some alert services limit the number of searches you can save. In many databases you can define how often a search is run.
