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Unit 8: Current Awareness Services

other material, and usually organized by subjects. Libraries now compile current awareness bulletins Notes
using predefined search strategy and running on the database either on CDROM or online
periodically and getting the desired output. Subject to copyrights, the output can also be stored on
a local system, and disseminated online (internet, intranet) and offline (print, CDROM, e-mail).
Table of contents of most journals are available free from the publishers’ sites. Some publishers
even offer free e-mail update of table of contents. A large number of electronic publishing sites or
portals now offer current information via email to registered users. For example one can register on
New York Times newspapers to receive summary of news on daily basis.
Internet has enabled a lot of innovations in contents, methods of production and distribution of
current awareness products. Tools such as Listserv, Weblog, Webzines and e-newsletters are
common. Listserv give the latest information, hot topics, ideas and opinions, a chance to discuss
issues, a source of advice and assistance. Weblogs literally log the web. They review, select and
package the latest relevant information, in a subject area. Some examples of web based current
awareness service are The NSDL Scout Report for Math, Engineering, and Technology and Free Pint are
examples of web based current awareness services.
Current awareness services (CAS) alert scholars, researchers, and health care practitioners to recently
published literature in their fields of specialization. Librarians who provide these services use various
methods to keep current with academic and professional literature. Traditional methods include
routing print journals, distributing photocopied journal tables of contents, and simply browsing
professional publications. Newer methods include conducting saved searches in preferred databases
and creating e-mail table of contents alerts. Each of these methods has disadvantages: Routed print
material moves slowly, distributing photocopies is labour intensive, and browsing material requires
extra time and active participation. Saved searches involve expert users and continual search
amendments. E-mail alerts flood in-boxes already brimming with unread items. The increasing
availability of publisher and vendor-supplied really simple syndication (RSS) feeds provides another
option for current awareness services, one that addresses many of the problems of traditional means.
While RSS is not a new technology and feeds have been commonly available for news and blogs for
many years, journal content providers were slow to follow suit. Moreover, the benefit of RSS for
journal content in the dispersed digital environment is limited, as the identification, location, and
management of new journal articles from multiple feeds can frustrate and overwhelm even the savviest
user.

8.1 Types and Methods of CAS

While library literature on RSS feeds has been plentiful in recent years, few articles discuss services
that fully leverage the “push technology” power of RSS. The idea of providing a convenient and
time-saving service to library users by collecting journal feeds and then bundling them into outline
processor markup language (OPML) files categorized by subject has not been developed in the
literature. Only one 2007 article describes using OPML files to access information from multiple content
providers without multiple subscriptions, thereby simplifying user access to the material.
Librarians at the Ebling Library recognized the challenges faced in keeping current with the literature,
as well as the potential of new services utilizing RSS. While the volume of tables of contents feeds
supplied by publishers and vendors have increased markedly, feeds were still not readily recognized
by, or easily accessible to, Ebling Library’s patrons, few of whom reported using RSS as a means of
staying current with the literature. The use of OPML was well outside the mainstream of
librarianship, and, even among colleagues who were aware of OPML, few had considered how it
could be used to easily share groups of feeds between users and readers. The value of identifying,
collecting, and categorizing new journal articles as a service to Ebling Library’s clientele became
apparent. After acknowledging this need, a group of six librarians set out to develop and promote
a new kind of RSS-based current awareness service that would save time, minimize effort, ensure
quality, and allow customization. Inspired by the Feed Navigator developed by the National Library

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