Alert Services

Many databases have services which help you stay up-to-date in your field, or alert you to new publications of interest. Most alert services are sent as email, but some are now offered as RSS feeds.

There are different kinds of alert services:

A Table of Contents (TOC) service sends you the table of contents each time a new issue of a journal is published.

A search-alert notifies you of new articles that match a search you have saved. This can alert you to new articles in a given subject area, by a certain author, or containing specific keywords.

A citation alert notifies you when new publications cite a particular work.

How to set up alert services

Alert services vary between different databases and publishers, and they often have different names. This can sometimes make it difficult to find the alert services you want.

There are a few ways to find alert services on a database or publisher site:

Look on the home page for options such as "alerts" or "email updates".

Look for options such as "Register", "Create Profile", or "My Account", and read about what kind of alerts are offered if you sign up.

Look for an option to save searches, as this usually means you can set up a search alert; or you may find alert services when browsing journal issues and subject categories.

Some databases, including ProQuest, do not link to alert services from the home page. However, the services are offered once you search or browse.

You will need to register with each site in order to set up your alerts. Registration and services are normally free to library clients, as they are included in the subscription the library has purchased.

The best place to start is with the database you use most, or look for alert services next time you are searching or browsing journals online. Be sure to go back and review your alerts from time to time, so that they stay relevant and useful.

Alert services offered by major databases and publishers

= Register to receive alerts and/or save searches

	TOC Alerts	Search Alerts	RSS Feeds	Other services
ACM Digital Library	Yes	No	No	"My Binder" service. Save search results and queries. Share binders with colleagues and build bibliographies.
American Chemical Society	Yes	Yes	Yes
American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers - ASABE	Yes	No	No
American Society of Civil Engineers - ASCE	Yes	No	No
Annual Reviews	No	Yes	No
Australia/New Zealand Reference Centre	Yes	Yes	Yes
Arts & Humanities Citation Index	Yes	No	Yes	Citation alerts
Attorney-General's Information Service Plus Text	No	Yes	No
Australian Public Affairs Full Text	No	Yes	No
AustLit - The resource for Australian Literature	No	Yes	No
Austroads Publications	No	Yes	No	The Search Alert feature is called Roadwatch.
Biological Abstracts on the EBSCOHost Platform	Yes	Yes	Yes
Blackwell Synergy (STM Collection)	Yes	Yes	Yes
CCH Electronic Libraries	No	Yes	No
CINAHL with Full Text on the EBSCOHost Platform	Yes	Yes	Yes
Cochrane Library	Yes	Yes	No
Compendex Engineering Village 2	No	Yes	No
EBSCOhost MegaFILE Premier	Yes	Yes	Yes
Education and Information Technology Library	Yes	No	No	"My Binder" service. Save search results and queries. Share binders with colleagues and build bibliographies.
Emerald Insight	Yes	Yes	No
Factiva	No	Yes	Yes
Global Books In Print	No	Yes	No
Highwire Press	Yes	Yes	Yes
IEEE Xplore - ASPP	Yes	No	No	"What's new" newsletters
Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE)	Yes	No	No
Journal Citation Reports	Yes	No	Yes	Citation alerts
Lecture Notes in Computer Science	No	No	No
ProQuest Dissertations and Theses	No	Yes	No
PsycINFO & PsycARTICLES on the EBSCOhost Platform	Yes	Yes	Yes
PubMed	No	No	Yes
SAGE Full-Text	Yes	Yes	No
Science Citation Index Expanded	Yes	No	Yes	Citation alerts
ScienceDirect	Yes	Yes	No	Citation alerts
SIAM Journals Archive - Locus. (Society of Industrial and Applied Mathematics)	Yes	No	No
Social Science Citation Index	Yes	No	Yes	Citation alerts
SpringerLink	Yes	Yes	No
Standards On-Line Premium	No	Yes	No
Taylor & Francis Journals	No	Yes	No	The Alert Service is called SARA.
Ulrich's Periodical Directory	No	Yes	No
Web of Knowledge	Yes	No	Yes	Citation alerts
Wiley InterScience	Yes	Yes	No