Page 266 - DLIS007_LIBRARY AUTOMATION

Unit 14: Current Awareness Services (CAS)

Step 6: User’s Response to Information Centre (IC) Notes

User may request for text information of specified items in detail after assessing the
notified items.
User may request for profile modification or change, if he doesn’t satisfy with the notified
items.
User may request for additional new interest, if he wants more information than the
notified items.

Finally, the information centre will try to modify or attach user’s additional need and thus the
operation is going on as before.

Self Assessment

State whether the following statements are true or false:
9. Selective Dissemination of Information is a documentation watch tool.

10. In the Current Awareness Services, users with similar interest are supposed to find out the
relevant information depending on their choice and interest.
11. Mechanical operation is a costly matter.

12. Projects should not be selected on preferential basis.

14.4 Online Procedures of SDI Service

SDI is a current awareness mechanism through which the individual information user can
expect to receive regular notification of new literature and data in accordance with his/her
statement of interest or profile. But this task is very difficult to perform due to accelerated
growth of information publications in every moment. A computerized information system
opens a number of possibilities with respect to current awareness services. One of the most
significant innovations was the SDI program. SDI is a service of providing textual information
which involves graphics, charts or images, etc. in addition to text.
The primary intention of a researcher in getting SDI service is to find out the specific relevant
items of information. For this, they require an exact matching mechanism. However, in text
database system there is generally no option for exact matching of information due to increased
chance of words co-occurring in a document without really being related to each other, instead
approximate matching is available in this type of database. So it is quite a problem for the
researchers of science, social science and humanities to manage exact information from a volume
of information in a text database that causes hindrance in their research work. Therefore, a
system should be developed, so that the researchers can find out their interested information
exactly and pin-pointedly. This is possible by introducing an exact matching technique with text
database systems. An information filtering technique can effectively solve this problem and
prevent information overload.
P. S. Kawatra proposed the following guidelines for preparing online SDI service in his book
“Textbook of Information Science”.
Acquiring user’s profile and storing them.
Processing incoming materials.

Matching users’ and document profiles.
Handling of cards.

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