Guide to set up a documentary watch on a thesis using email alerts and RSS feeds

1. Documentary watch on the web
January 2018
caroline.peron@univ-amu.fr
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2. 1. Stay informed of your research interests
2. Call information to you instead of looking for it
3. And save time !
More than 1 million scientific articles are published every year : alerting
services keep you up-to-date without having to check each and every site
yourself.
Both RSS feeds and email alerts contain details of the latest items
available within a website or library database.
Alerting services automatically “push” out the latest information you have
subscribed to as a series of links to relevant journal articles etc, instead of
having to visit a bunch of different websites to harvest all of this
information.
Why doing a documentary watch online ?
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3. The 5 steps of documentary watch on the web
1. Identify watching themes,
specify information types,
identify keywords
2. Select sources
(do a selection
more extended
than the identified
themes)
3. Collect results
4. Analyse results
5. Diffuse results
Isabelle Rey, INRIA, Documentary watch on the web, November 2011 :
http://www.slideshare.net/riverieux/documentary-watch-on-the-net

4. Each database/website is different !
• Depending on the database/website you’re using, you will be
able to set up different kinds of alerts :
- Journal Table of Contents (TOC) Alerts: receive the latest TOC
in your inbox each time a new issue of a journal is published.
- Search Alerts: database will automatically run your saved
search and deliver the latest results to your email on a daily,
weekly or monthly basis.
- Citation Alerts: receive an email when your saved citations are
cited by another article.
How to do a documentary watch ?
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5. • Some databse/website will provide you email
alerts AND RSS feeds.
• Some will only provide you email alerts.
• On some databases, you will have to create a
profile to get RSS feeds (Web of Science)
whereas you won’t have to do so on other
databases (ScienceDirect).
How to do a documentary watch ?
5

6. • You may need to create profiles on publisher websites or databases :
It will enable you to create saved searches and receive automatic
alerts by email or RSS feeds on a database.
How to do a documentary watch ?

7. Email alerts
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• Definition : Email alerts send you emails of new contents that match your
research.
• To create an Email Alert:
- Log in and conduct a search.
- On the results page, you can narrow your results using the filters on
the left.
- When you're satisfied with the results you see, click the "Save this
search" button.
- Name your search and click "Save."
- You will only receive an Email Alert when new listings matching your
saved criteria are posted.

8. Email alerts
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The Advantages of Email
alerts
The Disadvantages of Email
alerts
• Easy to use
• Notifications are dropped right
into your email (can’t be
forgotten !)
• You specify the alert frequency
• If your research is too wide :
you will receive too many
notifications.
• It is only a personal notification
(= no sharing)

9. Example : email alerts on Google Scholar
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10. • It uses a family of standard web feed formats (RSS 1.0, RSS 2.0,
Atom…), to publish frequently updated works such as blog entries, news
headlines, journals table of contents…
• RSS = « Rich Site Summary” or ”Really Simple Syndication”, depending
the formats.
• It is a standardized XML (= Extensible Markup Language) file format
which allows the information to be published once and viewed by many
different programs.
• An RSS document (which is called a "feed") includes full or summarized
text, plus metadata such as publishing dates and authorship.
RSS feeds

11. • RSS feeds can be read using software called an « RSS
reader » or aggregator. which can be web-based, desktop-based, or
mobile-device-based.
• The advantages of using an RSS feed:
- your email doesn’t get cluttered up with notifications
- if you use an RSS reader, all your “subscriptions” are available in
one place and can be organized and searched whenever you’re
connected to the internet.
- some RSS feeds can be pushed into Facebook and other social
media.
Short introduction of RSS feed : https://www.commoncraft.com/video/rss
RSS feeds
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12. The power of RSS feeds

13. - Direct click the RSS subscription button displayed on the website, and
select your prefered reader.
- Click the RSS feed icon displayed in the address bar.
2 ways to suscribe to RSS feed

14. Where will my RSS feed appear ?
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• Mozilla Firefox : you have to download a plugin « RSS Icon in url bar » to find
the RSS feed icon in url bar.
This add-on is not compatible with Firefox Quantum !
To subscribe to an RSS feed, just click the RSS feed icon displayed in the address
bar.

15. • If you want to read your RSS feeds using Firefox, the RSS feeds will appear in the
Live Bookmarks.
(Preferences/Options > Applications> Content type = Web feed > Rss Feeds > Add
Live Bookmarks in Firefox.)
Using Mozilla Firefox is more suitable if you only have a few feeds.
Where will my RSS feed appear ?
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16. • Internet Explorer 11 : RSS feed will appear in Favourites (more suitable if
you only have a few feeds).
Microsoft Edge does not support RSS feeds yet !
Where will my RSS feed appear ?

17. • Google Chrome : install the RSS subscription Extension.
Where will my RSS feed appear ?

18. - In the Options of the RSS subscription Extension
- Select Add (Ajouter),
-Write NetVibes as the description
and http://www.netvibes.com/subscribe.php?url=%s as the URL.
-Or Feedly and http://www.feedly.com/home#subscription/feed/%s
Where will my RSS feed appear ?

19. • Safari : Open up a Safari window and click on the sidebar button at the top.
- Click on the “@” icon at the top of the page. This is your “Shared Links” page,
which enables you to keep up with your RSS feeds.
- To add new feeds, go to the sidebar under the “@” tab and click on
“Subscriptions” at the bottom. Now click “Add Feed.” This will open up a box of
possible selections, including the current page if it has an RSS feed. Click “Add
Feed” and “Done” at the bottom of the sidebar
Where will my RSS feed appear ?
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20. • If you subscribe to multiple feeds from websites and library
databases, the better option for viewing RSS feeds is to
use an RSS aggregator or a feed reader.
• These online reader services gather all your RSS feeds
into one location.
• Most feed readers are free but some may charge a small
fee.
• There are hundreds of feed readers available, with all
kinds of interfaces and features.
RSS aggregators/feed readers
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21. You can choose among many alternatives, depending your
needs :
- What do you want out of a RSS subscriptions service ?
- Something easy to use ?
You will need to find one which suits you : its
design, its functionality and whether it suits the type of
information you have subscribed to.
Check out this online comparison (last update on 20th
March, 2017) : http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-
rss-reader-aggregator.htm
How to choose a feed reader ?

22. • Netvibes has been created in 2005 and is a personalized
dashboard publishing platform for the Web. It is organized into app
or widget (= windows + gadget), each app containing user-defined
modules.
It gathers all essential updates, news, and tools.
• Positives of Netvibes :
- Personalized dashboard
- Free and easy to use
- A"read later" button
- Choice between widget or « reader view »
http://www.netvibes.com/en
http://documentation.netvibes.com/
Netvibes tutorial : http://www.slideshare.net/wondersteen/introduction-netvibes-
presentation
Netvibes

23. As well as via the standard desktop environment, Netvibes can be accessed via
dedicated mobile interface which is optimised for the mobile screen size and
User Interface.
http://faq.netvibes.com/knowledgebase/articles/370163-does-netvibes-provide-
dedicated-mobile-interface
Netvibes on mobile devices

24. Plant Science Research Laboratory - Toulouse III University :
http://www.netvibes.com/docetoile#Accueil
How does a Netvibes dashboard look like ?

25. Apps are organized in tabs and boxes :
How does a Netvibes dashboard look like ?
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26. • Sign up too create a free individual dashboard :
• Enter the topic you want to track :
How do I get started ?
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2
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27. • When you choose a topic to track, (chemistry for example), Netvibes uses these
keywords to create a dashboard with topical widgets (news, blogs, social networks,
online videos) listed in a « News » tab.
New dashboard

28. • Copy the feed URL (right click--copy) from the news site or blog you are
interested in.
• Select "+ Add content" button in the upper left corner of the dashboard
• Select "Reading App," which should be the top left box.
• You can also import or export your feeds as an OPML file to use them in
another reader.
Add RSS feeds to Netvibes
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29. • Paste the feed URL into the box (right click--paste) or import a feed.
• Hit Enter or click the plus sign, then select the feed you want.
• Select which tab you want the feed to appear in, and then click "Add to your
dashboard."
Add RSS feeds to Netvibes
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30. •Create a multifeed app:
Importer du contenu sur Netvibes

31. • Add > Essentials apps > Link module / WebNotes …
•Then preview your widget and add it to your dashboard:
How to add content on Netvibes

32. • Drag and drop your widgets to arrange your dashboard :
•Use the « Settings » icon and « Themes » to customize the look of your
dashboard
How to customize your Netvibes dashboard

33. You change the settings of the RSS feed view in the app window
(« Settings » ): Normal view => Mosaic view
How to customize your Netvibes dashboard
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34. It allows you to have a quick overview of all your feeds. It uses a display
similar to that used in most aggregators.
« Reader view » on Netvibes

35. Thanks to the « reader view », you will be able to save your most important
feeds , to share them…
« Reader view » on Netvibes
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36. A Public Dashboard is viewable to the world at large. Once you have
finished your registration, you will first land on your Private Dashboard. There is
only one Public Dashboard per account.
Manage your public and private dashboards

37. Don’t forget the « spring cleaning » and change your RSS feeds if needed
(Dasboards > Manage) !
Manage your dashboard
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38. A potion is a formula containing ingredients that have a “magic
effect.” It manages interactions between apps, devices and events,
automatically.
"When I get a new thing in A, do those other things in B; otherwise
do this in C." The first part of the sentence is the trigger, the second
and third parts are actions.
A potion is defined by one or more ingredients, one formula and
one or more actions, e.g. "When new articles in the feed "NYTime"
are received with "apple" in the title outside week-end, send them to
my email address and save them in Pocket" is a potion.
http://www.netvibes.com/en/dashboardofthings
https://vimeo.com/119738189
Netvibes « potions »
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39. Netvibes « potions »
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Netvibes potions are a variant of the free web-based service If This Then That, also
known as IFTTT . It creates chains of simple conditional statements, called applets.
https://ifttt.com/discover

40. Institut des Sciences Moléculaires de Marseille (ISM2), Stereo team :
http://www.netvibes.com/gaellechou#Accueil
Example of Public Dashboard

41. The reference manager software Zotero has launched a new
version : you can create a new feed in Zotero by pasting the RSS
feed URL to the URL text field
https://www.zotero.org/support/feeds
Zotero and RSS feeds
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42. JournalTOCs
- TOC from more than 30000 scholarly journals (including 13000
selected Open Acess journals)
- RSS feed on new issues of your followed journals
- Export references to Zotero
RSS feeds on Table of Contents from journals
http://www.journaltocs.hw.ac.uk/

43. Social bookmarking is a method for Internet users to organize, store,
manage and search for bookmarks of resources online.
It can be used to develop the sharing of scientific references among
researchers.
Many social bookmarking services provide RSS feeds for their lists of
bookmarks, including lists organized by tags. This allows subscribers to
become aware of new bookmarks as they are saved, shared, and tagged
by other users.
1 main social bookmarking tool for researchers : Citeulike.
Social bookmarking and documentary watch

44. Created in 2004, it is aimed to promote and to develop the sharing of
information on academic papers (8 million articles in 2017).
Citeulike
RSS feed on a search

45. A blog (a contraction of the term “Web log”) is a Web site used
mostly as online equivalent of diaries, journals, or logged entries on
specific topics.
Entries are commonly displayed in reverse chronological order.
Blogs are used as content management systems, to create RSS
feeds, and they are inexpensive ways to design small web sites.
Dr. Katherine J. Haxton, Can science blogging enhance your research life, talk at Keele University in
February 2009 : http://www.slideshare.net/kjhaxton/can-science-blogging-enhance-your-research-life
Dee McCurry, The best academic blogs December 2017 : https://www.exordo.com/blog/the-best-
academic-blogs/
Science blogs

46. Positives
- Collaboration tool
- Community building between similar
researchers / career stages
- Full acces to data (open science)
- Many ways to get involved (read,
write, comment)
Science blogs
Negatives
- Privacy issues (sensitive research)
- What goes on the internet stays on
the internet
- Another thing to watch !

47. Hypothèses
Social sciences blogs
http://fr.hypotheses.org/

48. http://www.scilogs.fr/
Science blogs
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49. Look for blogs on Google by topic :
inblogtitle:topic name
Science blogs

50. Browse Google to find science blogs by searching :
« inblogtitle:topic »
Science blogs

51. Microblogging has become one of the most popular form of
communication for students, scholars and all types of internet
users.
A microblog differs from a traditional blog in that its content is
typically smaller in both actual and aggregated file size. Microblogs
"allow users to exchange small elements of content such as short
sentences, individual images, or video links.
Twitter is the best known microblog.
Margaret Adolphus. How to...use Twitter for academic research
http://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/research/guides/management/twitter.htm?p
art=3
Microblogging
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52. Pocket
The next time you find an
article, video or link you want
to read or watch later, just
save it to Pocket.
It’ll sync across your phone,
tablet, and computer so you
can come back to it whenever
and wherever you’d like, even
when you’re offline.
A desktop browser extension for Safari, Chrome, and Firefox.

53. Multidisciplinary databases
Summon
Web of Science
Science Direct
Wiley
Springer
Proquest
ArXiv
HAL
Specialized databases
SciFinder
ACS
PubMed
APS
OpticsInfobase/OSA publishing
Ebsco Database
Cairn
Documentary watch on databases and open
access repositories

54. Summon
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Summon is the library search engine that includes records for books,
articles, conference proceedings, theses and dissertations.
Search alert by RSS feed.

55. You need to sign in if you want to use email alerts and RSS feeds :
Sign in > Register
WOS

56. Alert notifications only work with the Web of Science Core Collection
(it won’t work on All databases), by saving the search history.
WOS

57. WOS
Just click on an article title to
Create citation alert by email or RSS
feed.
The RSS feed is in
My Tools > Saved searches and alerts.

58. Manage your alerts in « My tools » :
Web of science online tutorial : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdgRwA3TQw4
WOS

59. You may create email alerts and RSS feeds on :
- Search alert
- Topic alert
- On Volume/issue alert
Science Direct

60. Science Direct

61. Science Direct
Create an account
3 alerts (email or RSS feed) : Search alerts/ Topic alerts/ Volume-Issue
alerts

62. Science Direct – Topic alert

63. Science Direct – Volume/issue alert

64. Wiley Online Library
Content Alerts - receive the table of contents (e-TOC) for selected journals whenever a
new issue is published. This also includes receipt of Early View and Accepted Article
alerts as soon as the articles appear online (for journals which have these features)
Select this feature from the homepage for the Journals you want to receive alerts for.
RSS Feeds - receive automated messages of the latest table of contents for your favorite
journals.
You can also select this from the homepage for the Journals you want to receive RSS
feeds for.
Saved Search Alerts - receive notification whenever content is published online that
matches one of your saved searches

65. Citation alert for an article.
Wiley Online Library

66. • RSS feed on subject/topic :
• RSS feed on search :
Springer
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67. • « Save search/alert » : search alert by email or RSS feed.
Proquest dissertations & theses
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68. The French open access repository HAL
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Rss feed on a search : Tools > Syndication > RSS

69. Email alerting service :
- Determine which archive is of interest to you, and obtain its e-mail address from the list of available
archives.
- For archives divided into subject classes:
If the archive to which you are subscribing requires distinct subject classes (such as the math,
physics, cs, q-bio and q-fin archives; but not astro-ph, cond-mat or nlin, see handling subscriptions to
all physics archives through physics below), then you (un)subscribe to a specific category, indicating
the categories in the body of the message. Here is an example
To: physics@arxiv.org
Subject: subscribe John Smith
add Biophysics
del Plasma Physics
- You may alternatively use the short subject class codes, for example to subscribe to the Risk
Management category (q-fin.RM) in Quantitative Finance:
To: q-fin@arxiv.org
Subject: subscribe John Smith
add RM
The open access repository arXiv
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70. RSS feeds :
Daily updated RSS news feed pages are available for all active subject
areas within arXiv.
The URL for each category (whole archive or subject class) is constructed
by appending the category name to http://arxiv.org/rss/.
For example, the URL for the RSS page for the Computer Science archive
is http://arxiv.org/rss/cs.
News feeds are also available for individual subject classes of archives
that have subject classes. A specific subject class is selected by
appending a period (.) and the subject class letters to the URL. For
example, the URL for the RSS page for Mathematics -- Quantum Algebra
is http://arxiv.org/rss/math.QA.
The open access repository arXiv
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71. SciFinder
« Add Keep me Posted Alert » = search alert by email :

72. Search alert by RSS feed (or by email if you’re registered)
ACS

73. RSS feeds of TOC from journals or CAS sections :
ACS

74. •Search alert by email.
•RSS feed on Journal TOCs.
RSC

75. PubMed
Search Alert by RSS feed or by emails

76. You can adapt your RSS settings (number of items displayed).
PubMed
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77. RSS feed on journals (About tab), and on search alert (but after
signing in and search saving) :
OSA Publishing - OpticsInfobase

78. APS
• RSS feed on journals or topics.
• You may create personalized RSS feeds and email alerts directly
after doing a search on our journal search page. Please note you
need an APS Journal account to save your searches.

79. You can create « Search alerts » by email or RSS feed (you need
to sign if you subscribe to email alerts).
Ebsco databases (Business Source Complete,
EconLit…)

80. Email alert on saved search.
Emerald
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81. Email alerts (newsletter and journals TOC) by signing in.
Cairn
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82. RSS by topic on this social science calendar:
Calenda
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83. • RSS feeds or e-mail alert on different topics are avalaible
when you create an user account and click on « Veille
juridique » (= law watch)
http://www.toutsurlamyline.fr/lamyline-decouverte.html
Lamyline
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84. Branwen Hide, RSS feeds what are they and how can they help my
research?, March 2010 : http://www.slideshare.net/sarahgentleman/rssfeeds-
v02-bh
Isabelle Rey, INRIA, Documentary watch on the net, November 2011 :
http://www.slideshare.net/riverieux/documentary-watch-on-the-net
Dr. Katherine J. Haxton, Can science blogging enhance your research
life, talk at Keele University in February 2009 :
http://www.slideshare.net/kjhaxton/can-science-blogging-enhance-your-research-
life
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact me at :
caroline.peron@univ-amu.fr
Useful links