Staying current

Keeping up to date with developments in your area of practice is quite a challenge. A staggering amount of information is published every day both in print and in online formats. Alerts notify you by email or RSS feed of update that matches the search terms you have specified. We can help create these Alerts so you can stay abreast of current research in your topic and can be delivered directly to you.

Table of Contents (eTOCs) alert service will send you contents from new journals as they are published. Most journals provide an eTOCs service. If you would like assistance with setting us up contact us or follow these steps to create alerts on Ovid Discovery.

To use this feature in Ovid Discovery you will need to create a login by clicking on 'Sign up' first.Once you've signed in, look for a specific journal title or browse journals by subject. 

• Peter Zelas Library and Mount Druitt Hospital Libraries - Ovid Discovery Portal.

The option to activate journal alerts will be visible after you have logged into your Ovid Discovery account (see links above):

To cancel alerts you will need to log into your Ovid Discovery account again. There is a link at the bottom of the alert email.

Search alerts, frequently known as Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI), allow you to save your search terms and be alerted by email or RSS when new articles matching your criteria are added to a database. Most of the library databases can be set up to run these alerts. This type of service can increase current awareness and may have a positive impact on efficiency and productivity. Please contact the Library staff for further information or follow these instructions to create a database alert on a CIAP Ovid Database.

To save database searches and to turn them into alerts you need to create a personal account.
The CIAP Ovid account will allow you to do this in CIAP Medline, Embase, Emcare and PsycINFO databases.
You can also sign up for personal accounts in other databases including ClinicalKey, ClinicalKey for Nursing, 

Steps to create an Alert in Medline (Ovid database on CIAP)

Follow these instructions to set up an alert in MEDLINE:
 

1. Click on either My Account or My Workspace in Ovid Medline

2. LogIn or Create a Personal Account

3. Run the search for the information you want, use the tick box to select the search history, then 'Save' the search. Any kind of search can be saved, whether on an author's name, journal title or a subject search.

4. You will need to give your saved search a Search Name and then 'Save'

5. To retrieve your saved search at any time log back into a CIAP Ovid database and click on My Workspace, then My Searches & Alerts. 
Note: this is in very tiny writing in the middle of the display.

6. To run the search again click on the tick box above your saved search and then Run. Remember to save the search again, overwriting your original search, if you want to make any changes.

To turn your search into an alert change the Type from Permanent to AutoAlert. Options are then displayed for how often the alert will be run and sent to you.

5. 

** To delete an alert once it is no longer useful you need to log back into your CIAP Ovid Workspace, and find your AutoAlert searches.**

Here are the steps to set up a search alert in Google Scholar:

1. Go to Google Scholar and perform a search for your topic. Learn search tips for Google Scholar.

2. Locate the Alert icon. ...

3. You will then see options for your alert. ...

4. Enter your email address in the Email box. ...

5. Click Create Alert.