Presentation used in a Law Library session on current awareness

1. Kate Jackson
Legal Research Librarian
Current Awareness
October 17, 2016

2. Aims and objectives
 Learn how to stay up-to-date with information
on websites, blogs, podcasts and legal
databases, using
 RSS feeds
 alerting services

3. You can visit websites
to get the latest information

4. or, you can use an RSS feed

5. What is an RSS feed?
 An RSS feed is website content put into a standard
format.
 Using a feed is a bit like tuning into a radio station, or
subscribing to a magazine.
 It’s easy to visit the associated site if you want more
information.

6. What RSS feeds offer
 the end user
 a way to access the latest information without
visiting multiple web sites daily
 the feed publisher
 a convenient way to broadcast
information to “subscribers”
and encourage visits to website

7. Benefits for end users
 Less clutter in inbox, no spam
 No subscribe/unsubscribe hassles
 You choose when
to view information

8. Disadvantages for end users?
 Can find yourself “oversubscribed” with
too much to read!

9. Ways to read RSS feeds
 Built-in readers in browsers, email
 Web-based news readers
 Accessible from anywhere
 Free: Feedly, NetVibes
 Paid (for full version): NewsBlur

10. How to get started
 Sign up for a web-based account
 Find feeds that you want to read
 Add them to your account
 Organise into folders
for best results

11. Web-based service: NewsBlur

12. Click on item title to visit website

13. What to look for:

14. Alerting services

15. Alerting services:
 Help you fine tune what you receive
 Increasingly there is an RSS feed option
 Or you can choose email

16. Things to look out for
 Not always called alerts – also look out for links to
Updates, SDI, Save search etc.
 Three main types:
 Tables of Contents (ToCs) of recently published
journals/law reports
 Keyword alerts - new materials which match
your keywords, authors
 Subject area alerts - new in IP, human rights etc

17. Keeping up to date with Journals:
Tables of Contents Services
 zetoc
 Tables of contents for journals received by British Library
 Offers email alert or RSS feed
 http://zetoc.jisc.ac.uk/
 Most publishers offer TOCS on their web site

18. zetoc: http://zetoc.jisc.ac.uk/
Receive TOCS by email
Receive TOCS by RSS feed
search
alert
RSS

19. zetoc RSS option
Select by first letter of journal name
Search on word or phrase in journal name
View list of new journals
Select journals by category

20. Journal titles containing
‘international law’

21. American Journal of International
Law
Right click on RSS button and copy link address
(or similar, depending on browser)

22. Paste link address into reader

23. zetoc email alerts

24. Can contain TOC and searches

25. Keeping up to date with materials on the legal
databases
 Lexis Library
 Can set up an alert from a search
 Set up a subject alert
 Westlaw UK
 Need to set up a personal profile
 Can get subject alerts via email or get RSS feeds
 Lawtel
 Subject alert only

26. Lexis Library

27. Create an alert from a search

28. Keeping up to date with subject alerts
 Lexis Library alerts
 Cases, legislation from around the World
 Choose ‘My alerts’ from drop down and then ‘create’ and browse
subject categories
 Westlaw alerts
 Create a profile
 Go to the top to alerts or RSS feeds and add content and subjects you
are interested in
 Lawtel Updates
 UK cases, legislation, bills in selected subject areas
 Choose “Lawtel Updates” and browse subject categories

29. Lexis Library – My Alerts

30. Lexis Library – My Alerts

31. News, views (and twitter)
 Jurist (International & US Legal News)
 www.jurist.org
 Global Legal Monitor from Law Library of Congress in US
 http://www.loc.gov/law/foreign-news/
 Legal Blog Watch (monitors legal blogs)
 http://legalblogwatch.typepad.com/
 Law.com newswire via RSS feed
 http://www.alm.law.com/rss/newswire.xml

32. Blogs and Podcasts
 Blogs – popular way of keeping an online diary on
the Web
 Most blogs have an associated RSS feed, so you can
subscribe to them easily
 Podcasts – a special type of RSS feed where each
item has an audio or video file enclosed

33. Legal Blog Watch

34. Searching feeds, blogs and podcasts
 Justia Blawgsearch http://blawgsearch.justia.com/
 icerocket blog search function
www.icerocket.com

35. icerocket

36. Follow icerocket link to blog post

37. Law.com newswire

38. Directories of legal blogs, twitter accounts
 Justia Blawgsearch - http://blawgsearch.justia.com/
 Directory of blogs organised by subject, jurisdiction, law school etc
 International Law Observer-
 http://www.internationallawobserver.eu/blogroll/
 Legal Birds – list of legal tweeters (US focus)
http://legalbirds.justia.com

39. Picture Credits
 Slide 2
 “Melophore” by flickr user dynamosquito, August 27, 2008 (CC BY-SA
2.0) (image altered)
 Slide 5
 “1959 RCA Victor Dual Speaker Filteramic Tube Radio” by flickr user
Roadsidepictures, November 16, 2009 (CC BY-NC 2.0) (image altered)
 Slide 6
 “broadcast ariel” by flickr user HerPhotographer, January 8, 2008, (CC
BY-NC-SA 2.0) (image altered)
 Slide 7
 “untitled” by flickr user Jeff_Werner, March 3, 2008 (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
(image altered)

40. Picture Credits (cont.)
 Slide 8
 “’I fell asleep reading a dull book and dreamed I kept on reading, so I
awoke from sheer boredom.’ Heinrich Heine” by flickr user Geraint
Rowland Photography, July 12, 2012 (CC BY-NC 2.0)
 Slide 10
 “urban renewal, Condemned Durham Warehouse” by flickr user Avius
Quovus, April 1, 2009, (CC BY-NC 2.0) (image altered)
 Slide 15
 “Radio Tuner on a Marconi VCR670A(?)” by flickr user Tim Sheerman-
Chase, August 26, 2012, (CC BY 2.0) (image altered)
This presentation (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)