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Unit 14: Current Awareness Services (CAS)

in databases. CAS can help keep track of forthcoming events and supports research and Notes
publications, thus benefiting the individual researcher and the research community and leading
to research of a high quality (Kemp, 1979:15). WWW CAS is also speedy and can appear very
frequently; in addition; it is very convenient (Fourie, 2003:185). It can be expected that these
benefits will also apply to the legal profession. However, empirical studies will be necessary to
gain more specific insights. Although those in the legal profession often rely on conferences to
keep up to date, they are not always in a position to attend these.
The disadvantages associated with CAS are notably less than the advantages. CAS can, however,
be very time-consuming to set up, especially if the Internet is very slow. In addition, users can
still be overloaded with information, with the result that they will need to organize the
information if they are to benefit fully from it. Customization also does not allow for browsing
and the serendipitous discovery of information (Martin and Metcalfe, 2001:270). Another
disadvantage is that some services (usually those of high quality) are very expensive. In addition,
no CAS can cover all the information on a subject and the user might therefore need to subscribe
to different services, leading to overlapping and information overload. Kulthau and Tama
(2001:26) also point out that a possible disadvantage of personalised services (including CAS) is
that, although useful for routine tasks, they could be less effective in supporting complex tasks
involving creativity and the construction of new meaning. (This is one of the aspects requiring
further research.)

Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
5. …………………… can help keep track of forthcoming events.
6. CAS can be very time-consuming to set up, especially if the …………………… is very
slow.
7. …………………… also does not allow for browsing and the serendipitous discovery of
information.

8. …………………… CAS is also speedy and can appear very frequently.
14.3 Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI) Service

Selective Dissemination of Information is a service that consists in routing to readers, on a
regular basis, news alerts corresponding to their readers’ profiles. It is a documentation watch
tool. SDI makes it possible to inform readers of new acquisitions on particular subjects or issues.
One can equally refer to it as a “documentation profile” or a “personalized profile” or even a
“search profile”. 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.
In the Current Awareness Services, users with varying interest are supposed to find out the
relevant information depending on their choice and interest. But they have to make some extra
effort to be aware of the new information which is also compiled with efforts put by the
(information service) provider. Further, the subject areas of interest of modern scientists and
engineers no longer conform to conventional concepts of disciplines. Therefore, a need is felt to
devise a mechanism in the information system to decide quickly the relevance of each document
from the point of view of each user’s interest. Later, such a mechanism has been devised and first
introduced by H. Peter Luhn in 1958, who named this devise as ‘SDI’ service.

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