Skip to Main Content

Alert Services - A How to Guide: Web page alerts

Many of the databases that the Limestone University Library subscribe to offer alert services. An alert is an email or RSS notification that the database can automatically send to you when new items are added to the database that match your specific searc

Monitoring a publisher’s or a journal’s updates

In order to stay up to date on the latest articles published or in press in your field, it might be better to be notified when a particular publisher’s page is updated in addition to having a multi-publisher database alert. Indeed, some time may elapse between the publishing of an article by the publisher and its archiving in a multi-publisher database. 

In addition, setting an alert from a journal’s page is often the only way to receive the table of contents (ToC) of a new issue.

It is usually possible to register on the publisher’s page to receive updates concerning new publications even if your organisation hasn’t subscribed to the publisher’s journals. In this case, you will receive the bibliographic references without a link to the full text. This will at least allow you to know that a publication exists. 

 

Subscribing to a news service

If a web page offers an RSS feed, you can subscribe to it and be notified whenever a new article is published on the page.

Most news services offer this type of service.

Such a service can also be found on blogs, the homepages of organizations and even on the personal pages of some Internet users.

Some organizations offer two types of alerts: RSS feeds and email alerts.

If you are experiencing problems with our guides and databases, please contact ProfessorJanet S. Ward, jward@limestone.edu, Assistant Director of the Library and Web Services Librarian.