Page 261 - DLIS007_LIBRARY AUTOMATION

Library Automation

Notes It may be presented in printed, electronic or any appropriate form acceptable to information
seeker.

It is provided.to meet the current information requirement.
This service is not usually intended to fulfil information requirement of any specific
query. It is meant for panoramic view of current developments.

This service is usually provided in a broader subject area to present a view of specific as
well as peripheral subjects.
Usually CAS is provided to a group of researchers, of homogenous requirements of
information, not to individual.
It is not a tailor-made or customized service.
CAS has to be provided within a time-frame much before the information is published or
appeared in indexing and abstracting sources.
Getting feedback, from the users about the relevance of information supplied to them, is
not a prerequisite in CAS.

Speed, currency and ease to use are three factors to determine the efficiency and effectiveness
of CAS in ally organization.
Current awareness services overcome the time-lag between the publications of items and their
subsequent inclusion in comprehensive indexing or abstracting sources. Information
professionals have different opinion about this time period.

Some say, it should not be more than one month from the items appeared in primary sources
others opine that there should not be ally arbitrary time limit. More precisely, it should be
brought out before the notification in secondary sources of information.

Task List out current directories list of current awareness.

Self Assessment

State whether the following statements are true or false:
1. Current awareness services assist you with keeping up-to-date with new publications in
your subject area.

2. Web Alerts find out when someone has cited an article of interest.
3. A variety of CAS can be found on the WWW.
4. JustCite is a unique collection of news, features and articles on the latest legal
developments.
14.2 Advantages and Disadvantages of CAS

An important advantage of using CAS via the Web is that this enables a person to receive
customized information that is easy to digest. It also provides immediate access to the end-user
work station and the information is highly available. Fourie (1999:382) adds that it is easy to
keep track of new developments, of new information resources, of new trends in a specific field,
of new research projects, of daily events, of activities in competing markets and of new documents

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