Page 79 - DLIS006_INFORMATION SOURCES AND SERVICES

Information Sources and Services

Notes could be bibliographical (such as a list of references) with or without abstracts; discursive,
(ex. a Newsletter) in nature.

attempts to inform its users to recent development or news as quickly as possible and
make browsing convenient and easy for the user.

4.8 Selective Dissemination of Information

Selective dissemination of information (SDI) was originally a phrase related to library and
information science. SDI refers to tools and resources used to keep a user informed of new
resources on specified topics.

SDI services pre-date the World Wide Web, and the term itself is somewhat dated. Contemporary
analogous systems for SDI services include alerts, current awareness tools or trackers. These
systems provide automated searches that inform the user of the availability of new resources
meeting the user’s specified keywords and search parameters. Alerts can be received a number
of ways, including email, RSS feeds, voice mail, Instant messaging, and text messaging.
Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI) was a concept first described by Hans Peter Luhn
of IBM in the 1950s. Software was developed in many companies and in government to provide
this service in the 50’s and 60’s, which allowed distribution of items recently published in
abstract journals to be routed to individuals who are likely to be interested in the contents. For
example, the system at Ft. Monmouth automatically sent out (by mail) a different set of abstracts
to each of about 1,000 scientists/engineers in the Army depending on what they were working
on. The selection was based on an “interest profile,” a list of keywords that described their
interests. In some organizations, the ‘interest profile’ was much more than a simple list of
keywords. Librarians or information professionals conducted extensive interviews with their
clients to establish a fairly complex profile for each individual. Based on these profiles, the
information professionals would then distribute selectively appropriate information to their
clients. This labour-intensive operation was costly, which over time was diminished. A survey
at the time (1970s) indicated that a large number of projects were affected by the SDI service. The
software was developed by Edward Housman at the Signal Corps Research Laboratories Technical
Information Division.
Selective Dissemination of Information assists user in keeping up-to-date current literature in
particular subject areas. The purpose of SDI is to help users cope with information overload.
In this column, we provide list of selected literatures or titles of library materials available in
the library based on chosen subject. The sources of the literatures may vary, from various
materials such as books, serials, proceedings and also electronic sources.
Self Assessment

State whether the following statements are true or false:
12. Newspapers carry useful information to everyone from housewives to top management
of companies and cabinet ministers.
13. It has become necessary for libraries and information centres to design and develop new
and innovative information services.

14. A documentation bulletin may include abstracts of papers listed in the bulletin.
15. A research in progress bulletin usually in the form of a publication.

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