Page 269 - DLIS007_LIBRARY AUTOMATION

Library Automation

Notes 14.5 Summary

Current awareness service has been defined by a number of library and information
science professionals but none seems to be universally accepted.

Current awareness services assist you with keeping up-to-date with new publications in
your subject area.

Current awareness directories, such as Free Legal Current Awareness Sources and Legal
Alerts and Current Awareness Services, provide annotated lists of services available to
the user.
Current awareness services overcome the time-lag between the publications of items and
their subsequent inclusion in comprehensive indexing or abstracting sources.

An important advantage of using CAS via the Web is that this enables a person to receive
customized information that is easy to digest.

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 is a service that can be regarded as a by-product of CAS which not only serves current
information but also totally is user-oriented.
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.

One of the most significant innovations was the SDI program.
A system should be developed, so that the researchers can find out their interested
information exactly and pin-pointedly.

14.6 Keywords

Bulletin Board: A bulletin board is a surface intended for the posting of public messages.
Citation: A citation is a reference to a published or unpublished source not always the original
source.

Conferences: A conference is generally understood as a meeting of several people to discuss a
particular topic.
Current Awareness Service: It is a system or publication for reviewing newly available documents,
selecting items relevant to the needs of an individual or group, and recording them so that
notifications may be sent to those individuals or groups to whose needs they are related.
Customization: Production of personalized or custom-tailored goods or services to meet
consumers’ diverse and changing needs at near mass production prices.
Documentation: Material that provides official information or evidence or that serves as a
record.
E-zines: An ezine (also spelled e-zine) is a more specialized term appropriately used for small
magazines and newsletters distributed by any electronic method.
Selective Dissemination of Information: Selective Dissemination of Information is a service that
consists in routing to readers, on a regular basis, news alerts corresponding to their readers’
profiles.

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