Keeping Up-to-date in the Biological Sciences

Keeping current with the literature of the biological sciences can be a daunting task. There are convenient services and technologies that can help you gather and organize the information that you need.

Feel free to stop by the reference desk or email us if you would like help setting up alerts.

• Setting up alerts from article databases
• Cited reference alerts
• Keeping up with your favorite journals

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a technology that delivers frequently-updated content on the web. Websites that change often, such as article databases, news sites, blogs, or weather sites, almost always have an RSS feed, which syndicates content to allow you to access the information in the format of your choice. Subscribe to the RSS feeds of sites that you visit frequently using an RSS feed reader, a web application that allows you to view all of your RSS feeds in one convenient location. The library has prepared an introduction to RSS feeds and RSS feed readers.

Alerts from Article Databases

Most databases allow you to perform a search once, then receive alerts when new materials that match your search are added to the database. The following tutorials will help you get started.

Database	Links to tutorials
BIOSIS	Email Alerts & RSS Feeds | Movie (2m:57ss)
PubMed	Email Alerts | (printable pdf) | Movie (2m:04ss) | RSS Feeds (pdf)
Agricola	Email Alerts | (printable pdf) | RSS Feeds
Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts	Email Alerts | (printable pdf) | RSS Feeds
CAB Abstracts	Email Alerts & RSS Feeds | Movie (2m:57ss)
Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management	Email Alerts | (printable pdf) | RSS Feeds
GeoRef	Email Alerts | (printable pdf) | RSS Feeds
Oceanic Abstracts	Email Alerts | (printable pdf) | RSS Feeds
Web of Science	Email Alerts & RSS Feeds | Movie (2m:57ss)
Zoological Record	Email Alerts & RSS Feeds | Movie (2m:57ss)

Cited Reference Alerts

Web of Knowledge includes citation data from over 5,000 publications and is currently the most comprehensive source of cited references on the web. It can be useful to set up alerts to see when your own work or the work of others is cited.

• Web of Knowledge : Creating Alerts (pdf)
• Web of Knowledge: Creating Alerts by Email or RSS (movie) (2m:57ss)

Keeping up with your favorite journals

Stay current with the latest issues of the journals you read most by subscribing to table of contents alerts. Both RSS and email alerts are available for most journals. You'll need to complete a quick, free registration in order to set up email alerts.

Below is a list of several major journals and journal publishers. Table of contents alerts can be set up for most journals from each journal's website; you can search our e-journals page or do a Google search for the journal title to locate the website, then look for links to email alerts or RSS feeds.

• American Chemical Society Journals   Sign up for email alerts or subscribe to RSS feeds.
• BioOne New Issue Alert   If you're a new user, register to be taken to the alerts page.
• BioMed Central   Follow the "Sign up for TOC alerts" link (upper-right) to register for email alerts, or select your favorite journals and click on the RSS icon to subscribe to the RSS feed.
• Elsevier ScienceDirect Alerts  If you're a new user, select "Register Now". Complete the registration, then select "Alerts" from the top navigation bar.
• HighWire Press  Register for a free account, then select "Alerts" from the top navigation bar.
• Oxford University Press  Each journal home page has an "Alerting Services" section on the lower right-hand side.
• PLoS (Public Library of Science)  Journal content alerts are available via email or RSS feeds. Scroll down to the section entitled Journal "RSS feeds"
• Science Magazine   Click on E-Mail Alerts or RSS Feeds