How Lis Professionals Can Use Alerting Services

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Summary: This book examines how Library and Information Service (LIS) professionals can use alerting services (also called current awareness services or CAS) to survive: to grasp new opportunities to enhance information services, their professional development, professional image and job satisfaction. It focuses on services available through the web, the importance of environmental scanning and the importance of LIS professionals' using their awareness of new information to make a difference. Being alert and keeping track of the latest developments are not enough. Information should be used to generate new knowledge, to inspire, to make progress and to survive. LIS professionals need to be confident that they can prepare for new challenges, deal with information anxiety and information overload and claim new professional roles. Well-informed, confident and creative LIS professionals should be an inspiration to other professions: their use of alerting services should serve as a benchmark for others. The book draws on research on information behaviour, information usage, and information communication and also on alerting services, environmental scanning, and knowledge generation. Key Features: 1. Explores environmental changes affecting LIS professionals and the challenges they face 2. Explores the need for LIS professionals to offer a benchmark for others in the use of alerting services 3. Explores the variety of potentially useful alerting services (with special reference to WWW services) 4. Offers pragmatic advice on optimising information gained from alerting services in order to make a difference 5. Draws on insights from relevant LIS research as well as other disciplines to advise on how alerting services should be used to support knowledge generation and creativity 6. Advises on coping with the negative side of alerting services The Author: Ina Fourie is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Information Science at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. She joined the Department in 2001, after 13 years' teaching experience at the University of South Africa. Readership: Anybody in the LIS field who wishes to use alerting services to advance LIS services, develop their career, grasp new job opportunities and ensure their general survival: LIS professionals, managers, mentors, educators, and students. The principles discussed should also apply to anybody in the wider IT field. Contents: Introduction 'Current awareness' or 'alerting' services: where do we come from and where are we heading? AS dynamic LS environment and the need to be a benchmark Available alerting services Learning from studies on information seeking behaviour Surviving the negative side of alerting services Time to reflect on creative sue of information - seizing opportunities and surviving List of web addresses Bibliography