Info Skills: Keeping up to date
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Keeping up to date
Contents
Activity 1:
Activity 2:
Activity 3:
Adding a news feed from the BBC website
Adding feeds from CLT’s blog & LSE Library Twitter
Setting up an RSS feed from a literature search in EBSCO
Page 1
Page 3
Page 4
Information: What other databases use RSS or email alerts?
Information: Adding RSS feeds from journals - trouble shooting
Page 5
Page 6
Activity 4:
Activity 5:
Activity 6:
Activity 7:
Feedback
Page 6
Page 7
Page 7
Page 8
Page 8
Keeping in touch via Email lists
Keeping in touch using social networking tools
Searching for blogs
Using ESRC to track ongoing research
Course tutors
Academic Support Librarian, LSE Library
Activity 1: Adding a news feed from the BBC website
What are RSS feeds and why use them?
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Really Simple Syndication or Rich Site Summary
Recommend BBC Guide below to find out more
Useful for fast changing information (news) but also for research
Set up a Reader and information comes to you
Don’t need to check each website for updates everyday
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Info Skills: Keeping up to date
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Alternative to using email alerts
Go to the Moodle class and access the What are RSS feeds (from the BBC)
1. To set up a feed from a section of the BBC website, you just need to click on the RSS
symbol on the section homepage e.g. ‘Home’ or ‘UK’.
2. Highlight and copy the web address from the address bar in your browser.
3. Then switch to your Google Reader and choose the Add a Subscription option. A small
box will appear.
4. Copy in the web address into the box and click on Add. Your feed will be added into
your reader.
Activity 2: Adding feeds from CLT’s blog and LSE Library on Twitter
Why you should add blog & twitter
feeds
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Useful to see what’s new without
checking each blog individually
Can track specific contributors, tags or
topics
Can get quick links to new information
Can share tips quickly
Go to CLT’s homepage at
http://clt.lse.ac.uk/ or LSE Library
Twitter at http://twitter.com/LSELibrary
Look for the RSS symbol – you can
add CLT news or details of upcoming
courses.
Right click on this and copy the
shortcut
Paste this into your Feed reader via the ‘Add subscription’ option as before.
Use the Manage Subscriptions option at the very bottom left hand side of your Google Reader
screen to delete and rename your feeds or to add them into folders.
Image Placeholder
Image: screenshot of the Google Reader’s ‘manage
subscriptions’ option
Subscription resource: No
Edited: Yes
Amendments: Image cropped to show current subscriptions,
with the ‘rename’ and ‘change folders’ options circled in red
Date: 4/2/2009
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Info Skills: Keeping up to date
Activity 3: Setting up an RSS feed from a search in EBSCO
Why you should use Database Alerts:
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Useful if have a complicated search
string
Can set up to alert other researchers
Don’t have to re-enter details each
time
Don’t have to remember when a
database is updated
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May include direct links to articles
Don’t have to look up lots of individual
pages/resources
Other options include saving your
search details in the database itself –
you won’t get an alert but can rerun
your search when you log on.
Different databases may allow different types of alerts, or some may only allow you to save
your search to rerun another time within the database. Look out for:
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Saved Searches - not sent to you but
saved within database
Search Alerts via email
Table of Contents Alerts via email
Citation Alerts
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E-mail alerts can be sent to groups of
researchers
May require you to register with the
database
Access Business Source Complete for example.
Image Placeholder
Image: The ‘Search History’ screen of the Business Source Complete database
– the link to this section is under the search box on the main page.
Subscription resource: Yes
Library Catalogue URL: https://catalogue.lse.ac.uk/Record/898899
Edited: Yes
Amendments: The ‘Search History’ link under the search box is circled in red.
The RSS icon in the ‘Search Terms’ column is also circled in red.
Date: 4/2/2009
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Run a brief search on your topic
Choose the Search history option to select your RSS feed
Select the RSS feed of the search to create an alert:
Image Placeholder
Image: The ‘Create alert’ screen of the Business Source Complete
database which is generated when clicking on the RSS feed button
(see above).
Subscription resource: Yes
Edited: Yes
Amendments: The ‘?’ icon next to the ‘Create Alert’ heading is circled
in red. The link next to the RSS Feed icon at the bottom of the box is
also circled in red.
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Date: 4/2/2009
Info Skills: Keeping up to date
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Copy the link of the RSS feed
Paste this into your Feed reader via the Add subscription option as before.
Tips
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Make sure you copy the link very carefully – with no extra spaces included
Don’t use the right click/copy short cut option as this will produce an error in your feed reader –
use the copy/paste option
If the feed has a zero at the end it won’t work so try copying and pasting again!
EBSCO databases can sometimes cause errors - if your feed hasn’t appeared try accessing
your subscriptions manager and then returning to Google Reader - this can sometimes make
the feeds appear!
What other databases use RSS or email alerts?
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Look out for the orange RSS symbol on web pages
Remember that not all databases or web pages use RSS – look out for email updates or the
ability to save your searches within the database.
EBSCO Databases: RSS available
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ABSEES
Business Source Complete
Econlit
Green File
Historical Abstracts
IPSA (International Political Science
Abstracts)
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LGBTFull Text
Peace Research Abstracts
Psycinfo
Race Relations Abstracts
Teacher Reference Center
Requires registration with EBSCO for email alerts & to save searches within the
Database.
Scopus
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Run a search as usual
Select the ‘Set feed’ option
Name your feed and ‘Continue’
Copy and paste the URL in to your reader or if the reader you use is listed select the icon.
Science Direct
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RSS available – but there have been errors with this. Can set email alerts.
Search Alerts, Table of Contents Alerts
Requires Login for email alerts
ZETOC
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Search Alerts, Table of Contents Alerts
Requires LSE Login for email alerts
Excellent for current awareness
OCLC Databases
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Saved Searches only–no email or RSS alerts Requires registration with OCLC.
Anthropology Plus
• Chicano Database
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Info Skills: Keeping up to date
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FRANCIS
Geobase
International bibliography of history of
science, technology, and medicine
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Russian Academy of sciences
WorldCat
Nexis and Lexis
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Search Alerts. No RSS
ISI Citation Indices RSS can be problematic – email works better
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Saved Searches, Search Alerts, Citation Alerts
Requires setting a personal account
Must use the Web of Science tab rather than the Web of Knowledge tab for best results.
ASSIA/Criminal Justice Abstracts/PAIS International / IBSS
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Saved Searches, Search Alerts, Table of Contents Alerts
Requires setting a personal account
Adding RSS feeds from journals - trouble shooting
If you’ve added an RSS feed from an individual journal publisher’s site, you may sometimes get an
error when adding the feed. This is because the URL contains LSE’s subscription information. If
you delete this from the URL you should then be able to add the feed.
For example the feed from Conflict Resolution Quarterly is
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com.gate2.library.lse.ac.uk/rss/journal/97519532
Hint: In order for this to work correctly you must remove ‘gate2.library.lse.ac.uk’
So the correct feed will be http://www3.interscience.wiley/rss/journal/97519532
Activity 4: Keeping in touch via Email lists
Keeping up to date also means keeping in touch with other researchers.
You may like to try the various Google or Yahoo Groups which are available or Twitter and blogs look at the links via Moodle.
LSE allows you to set up your own email lists, but you can also try the lists via JISCMail.
Mailing lists Why you should use them:
 Receive news on e.g. upcoming conferences
 Identify and keep in touch with other researchers
 Just post to the list, so you don’t need to remember lots of individual email addresses
 Can suspend emails if you’re going to be away and then read the posts via the web interface to
catch up
 Can set shortcuts to favourite lists via the web interface.
1. Go to JISCmail at http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/ or use the link from your Moodle class and
browse the category lists.
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Info Skills: Keeping up to date
Activity 5: Keeping in touch using social networking tools
Take a look at the various links in Moodle– you may like to try:
 Linked In
 Pronetos
 Academia.edu
 Vitae: Researchers portal
Keep in touch with fellow researchers at LSE – join LSE PhD.Net in Moodle
http://moodle.lse.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=2329
Twitter http://twitter.com/ Not everyone uses Twitter for academic purposes but it is useful for
following conferences, for keeping in touch with fellow researchers and for getting information
quickly.
Use # to search Twitter for topics
Can search & read without joining if you don’t want/have a twitter account.
CLT run courses on using twitter for academic purposes if you want to learn more.
Searching for blogs
Blogs can be a good way to keep up with fast changing news. There are various ways you can
search for blogs – use the links below or access from the Moodle course
1. Go to Technorati’s blog directory at http://technorati.com/blogs/directory/
2. Use Google’s blog search at http://blogsearch.google.co.uk/ - don’t forget to try the Advanced
search and preferences options.
CLT run courses on using various social networking tools if you want to learn more.
Using ESRC Society Today to track ongoing research
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Conference papers & research repositories can show you what research is in being published,
but what about new or upcoming research? You can also see what’s in the pipeline - new
research grants etc via the ESRC
Access ESRC Society Today http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/index.aspx
Select the Our Research tab to browse by theme or once in the Our Research section click on
the Advanced Search box to type in your broad search terms.
Social Science Research Network http://www.ssrn.com/
Other useful links from LSE http://lselibraryresearch.blogspot.com/
Academic Support Librarian 03/11
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