RSS Alert Services - Case Studies

Continuing on the subject I had broached in my previous blog, alerts of new material are very useful for researchers, and very handy for avid readers. Researchers have very specialized needs. On my co-op I am witnessing and am training to try, narrowing down a search for an alert service so that nearly all the incoming articles will be very relevant. I kept this in mind as I examined the vendors options. It seems that Ebsco does allow the RSS feed alert to be customized to the exact search string developed by the researcher (or librarian). I found by going to the Engineering Village 2 website that it seems very similar to the one offered by Ebsco. In the words of Engineering Village 2, the RSS feed provides “weekly updates of your search queries’ results”. Engineering Village 2 also offers an interesting “Blog This” option, translating the citation/abstract into HTML code that the researcher can copy and paste to his/her blog to share with colleagues [interestingly, “within the same institution” is stated—I wonder how the post is stopped from going outside the institution]. Proquest’s website did not explain whether they offered a similar service; it was promoting feeds for predetermined subjects. Although the topic areas listed in the “Curriculum Match Factor” were broken down (e.g., Engineering – Chemical), they still seem far too wide to be of use in bringing in really relevant material—perhaps good enough at a earlier level of education, but not good enough for postsecondary levels (perhaps this is their intention). ProQuest has set predetermined subject terms to match curriculum textbooks, in an attempt to make the feeds relevant. To me, a feed of a customized search query seems far more satisfactory and useful.

I went to the Seattle Public Library’s catalogue to have a good look at the RSS option. The XML button at the bottom of a screen showing search results will set up alerts for new material with the same search query. The “What’s this?” link explains the service. I think it would have been better to include a simple introduction to the service should be stated on the search page itself (e.g., “Want to be notified automatically of new titles on this topic? Click here to discover more”). I wonder how many public library patrons would take advantage of this service? I can imagine that the avid readers of bestsellers or patrons with a hobby (e.g., quilting) would be thrilled.