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Reference Sources and Services Jovita Kaur, Lovely Professional University

Notes
Unit 8: Current Awareness Services

CONTENTS

Objectives
Introduction

8.1 Types and Methods of CAS

8.2 Need and Characteristics of Current Awareness Services
8.3 Types of Current Awareness Services

8.4 Summary
8.5 Keywords

8.6 Review Questions
8.7 Further Readings

Objectives

After studying this unit, you will be able to:
• Understand the types and methods of CAS
• Discuss the characteristics of current awareness services
• Explain types of current awareness services.

Introduction

The advancement in communication and networking technologies and the adaptation of Internet
and Intranet Technologies in organizational networks has given the Library and Information Centers
an opportunity to improve the information services to the patrons in more effective way. Current
Awareness Service of a library aims at providing information about recent arrival of books, journals
and other library documents to the library members. This is usually done at libraries by taking
printout list and displaying on notice board and circulating this list among various departments.
This Method has limitation of reach ability of the information and the time constraints. Also Selective
Dissemination of Information (SDI) meaning delivery of the user need specific Information is very
difficult. These difficulties are overcome in the E-CAS method of Current Awareness Service, which
combines both CAS and SDI together and makes the information about new arrival of documents
available to the library patrons periodically using email facility.
Current Awareness Services has been important means for keeping the users up to date in their
areas of interest. A current awareness service may be as simple as copy of table of contents or a
bulletin containing bibliographic records, of articles selected from the current issues of journals and

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