Keeping current with the literature of the biological sciences can be a daunting task, but most online resources give you the option to have newly added content sent to you via a variety of methods such as email or RSS.
Stop by the Bioscience Library reference desk or email us if you would like help.
RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a technology that delivers frequently-updated content on the web. Subscribe to the RSS feeds of sites that you visit frequently using an RSS feed reader, which allows you to view all of your RSS feeds in one location (e.g. Google Reader or Netvibes).
For more information, see Introduction to RSS.
Most databases allow you to perform a search once, then receive alerts when new materials that match your search are added to the database. You can receive these alerts as emails or as RSS feeds. The following guides and tutorials will help you get started.
Database |
Links to guides & tutorials |
| BIOSIS | Email Alerts & RSS Feeds |  Search Alerts (5 min) |
| PubMed | Email Alerts | Creating E-mail Alerts (3 min) | RSS Feeds |
| Agricola |
Email Alerts | Creating Alerts (2 min) |
| Aquatic Sciences and Fisheries Abstracts |
Email Alerts | Creating Alerts (2 min) |
| CAB Abstracts | Email Alerts & RSS Feeds | Search Alerts (5 min) |
| Environmental Sciences and Pollution Management |
Email Alerts | Creating Alerts (2 min) |
| GeoRef |
Email Alerts | Creating Alerts (2 min) |
| Inspec | Email Alerts & RSS Feeds | Search Alerts (5 min) |
| Oceanic Abstracts |
Email Alerts | Creating Alerts (2 min) |
| Web of Science | Email Alerts & RSS Feeds | Search Alerts (5 min) |
| Zoological Record | Email Alerts & RSS Feeds | Search Alerts (5 min) |
Web of Science (available on the Web of Knowledge platform) includes references from over 7,000 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.
JournalTOCs is a free service from a non-profit consortium of universities and publishers. It provides an easy way to review tables of contents from many journals all in one place. Creating an account allows the journals you follow to be saved.
Below is a list of several major journals and journal publishers. Both RSS and email alerts are available for most journals; see Electronic Journals for a browsable or searchable list. From each journal's home page look for links to email alerts or RSS feeds, frequently labelled with the following images:
Following notable bloggers can also be a good way to stay informed on newsworthy topics. Using a blog search engine, like Google Blogsearch, makes it easy to find blog posts on your topic of interest.
Individual blogs generally provide RSS feeds. When you find a blog that you want to follow, use these instructions for adding feeds to your RSS feed reader.
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08/24/12
