Many databases, publishers and professional associations have services which help you stay up to date in your field or alert you to new articles, books or conference proceedings that may interest you.
There are different kinds of alert services:
- Table of Contents (TOC) service sends you the table of contents of each new issue of a journal
- Search-alert notifies you of new articles that match a search you've saved. This can alert you to new articles in a subject area, by a certain author or containing specific keywords
- Citation alert notifies you when new publications cite a particular work
How to set up alert services
Alert services vary between different databases and publishers, and they often have different names.
To find alert services on a database or publisher site:
- Look on the home page for options such as "alerts" or "email updates" or "RSS feeds"
- Look for options such as "Register", "Create Profile", or "My Account", and read about what kind of alerts are offered if you sign up.
- Some databases (including ProQuest) don't link to alert services from the home page. However, the services are offered once you search or browse. Look for an option to set up an alert when you are searching or browsing the database.
Alert services offered by major databases available at QUT
Consult the library's list of databases offering alerting services.
