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Trek 18: Keeping up-to-date

New information appears constantly! How can you keep up-to-date in your research area without having to go back and search the same catalogues, databases and Internet sources over and over again?

Trek with us to learn about some electronic and print services that can help you to keep up-to-date and save you time.

Trek 18 logo

Database alerting services
RSS feeds and blogs
Academic email lists
Conference announcements
New book alerting services
Bookmarking useful websites
Helpful hints for keeping up-to-date

InfoTrekker Plus Quiz 18

Links

Database alerting services

Some indexing databases will regularly email you the references to journal articles that have been added to the database on your topic. Others will email you the contents pages of recent journal issues. How do these alerting services work?

Databases such as ScienceDirect and Current Contents Connect enable you to set up a personal profile that includes your email address and subject search 'strategies' or statements. The database runs regular searches and emails you the details of new articles on your topic (if any have appeared, of course).

The ProQuest database offers Publication and Search alerts which notify you by email when new content is available. You don't need to register for this service and it's easy to manage your alerts. Look for the 'Set up Alert' button.

When you are in a database, look for an option to Create a New/Personal Profile or Set up Alert and follow the prompts.

Remember to record your passwords and/or profile numbers.

If the full-text of an article is not available, these services may offer to send you the articles for a fee, charging your credit card. However, it may be cheaper to go through your library's Inter-Library Loan or Document Delivery Service.

To use a new issue alerting service or search alert service on Curtin's electronic databases, you must be a Curtin staff member or student.

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RSS feeds and blogs

RSS feeds

RSS stands for 'Really Simple Syndication' or alternatively 'Rich Site Summary'. Both describe the function of RSS - it is a simple way of syndicating or disseminating information and it provides an instant summary of new content appearing in a web site or blog.

RSS makes new content available not only in the website or blog where it originates, but on your desktop. So, instead of having to check your favourite websites or blogs regularly to see if there is anything new, RSS feeds will automatically alert you to new content and provide you with headlines or short abstracts, with links to the original page. You can monitor as many feeds as you want - they all appear in your RSS reader (sometimes called an aggregator).

RSS feeds are available from news sites, web sites which regularly update material, online journals, blogs, library pages, and much more. RSS feeds are usually identified by these icons: or by the words 'Syndicate this site'.
To select the feed, right-click on the icon or link, select 'Copy shortcut' then paste into your RSS reader. Start with some of the RSS feeds listed in our links.

RSS readers

There are several types of RSS readers:

Desktop RSS readers that are loaded onto your computer. These may need the Windows .NET application which is freely available to download). Try SharpReader or RSSReader (see links).

Web-based RSS readers. These readers can be accessed from any computer with an internet connection. Try Bloglines or NewsGator (see links).

There are many free RSS readers available - a Google search for 'RSS readers' will give you plenty to choose from!

Blogs

'Blog' is short for ‘web log’ . Blogs are written by individuals or groups of people (a person who keeps a blog is a ‘blogger’). They can focus on any topic, ranging from very personal to very specialised and the best ones are frequently updated. Most blogs allow readers to leave written comments in response to posts and syndicate their content to subscribers using RSS.

Blogs can be a good way to be aware of new developments in your field or research and offer a means of informal collaboration with other researchers.

And, creating a blog is easy. See links for sites that provide free blogging services and a few blogs to look at.

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Academic email lists

Email lists, also called 'electronic discussion lists', 'electronic meetings' or 'electronic conferences', can help you to find and communicate with others who have the same interests. Future seminars and conferences may be announced on these lists as well as in journals. 'Academic lists' are more professional in their content than recreational lists.

You subscribe (but you do not have to pay) to a list in an email message with a set format. You then automatically receive the email discussions and can send questions and contribute to discussions. You can unsubscribe if the messages are overwhelming, of little interest or you are going on leave.

There are a some searchable directories of lists on the Web, such as:

JISCmail: National Academic Mailing List Service (UK lists)
Ozlists (Australian mailing lists)
CataList, catalog of LISTSERV lists

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Conference announcements

Attending conferences with others in your field is valuable for sharing ideas, making useful contacts for future work or research and keeping up with original research. How can you find out about future conferences?

Usually, your lecturers and supervisors are aware of major conferences organised by professional associations in your field, and major journals advertise them, but some of the following sources may also help you locate them:

The World Wide Web is a source of conference announcements:

Some Web sites list conferences in all subjects and maintain them well. See the MInd: The Meetings Index (see links).
You can search the Web for forthcoming conferences using a search engine such as Google. Add the term 'conferences' or 'meetings' and 'announcements' to terms for your subject. For example:
- "electronic engineering" conferences announcements
- architecture conferences announcements
To find the Website of a professional association that may hold conferences, use a search engine to search for the name of the organisation in quotation marks. For example:
- "Association for Asian Studies" or AAS
- "Council of Australian Postgraduate Associations"
If you don't know the names of professional associations in your field, large libraries may have directories of associations in their Reference Collections.

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New book alerting services

Some publishers will email you information about new books in your subject area - after you register with them.

To find very specialised or mainstream publishers or professional organisations, check our links for a Publishers' Catalogues web site that you can browse by topic.

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Bookmarking useful Web sites

When you find a useful Web site, use your Web browser's (eg. Internet Explorer) Bookmark or Favorites option to add a bookmark for it.

You can then link to the site from your Bookmark/Favorites menu (on your own computer) as often as you like to check for updated information.

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Helpful hints for keeping up-to-date

Subscribe to free RSS feeds from journals and newspapers, websites like the Australian Bureau of Statistics and blogs (see links). It's easy to subscribe or unsubscribe and no registration is necessary.
Use the email alerting services provided by databases to send you a journal's new Table of Contents - in most cases you will also be able to link directly to the full-text articles.
Databases may also allow you to save a search strategy and rerun it when you like. Look for the Save Search option on the home page.
If you are a Curtin Masters or PhD student or staff member, the Faculty Librarian in your Division can help you to set up your database profile and alerts.