CURRENT

AWARENESS
SERVICES

By: Adah Mae Corazon Quinlat Barinos

Maybe defined as:

Knowledge

of recent developments.
Relates to those matters which are
of special interest to an individual.
Relates very often to the profession
or employment of the individual.
A knowledge of new theoretical
ideas and hypothesis to solve old
and new problems.
Knowledge of the contents of recent
publications.

It involves:
The

review of scanning document

(sometimes records of
documents).
The selection of items, by
comparing them with the needs
of those to whom the service is
provided.
The notification to these people
of the items of interest to them.

Basic requirements for

CAS:
COVERAGE
TIMELINESS
SELECTIVITY
CONTENTS
EASE

OF USE

CURRENT AWARENESS
SERVICES A LIBRARY
CAN OFFER
Current

Awareness Bulletin
Journal Circulation
Display
Telephone calls and personal contacts
Selective Dissemination of Information

1. CAS BULLETINS
TYPICAL

BULLETIN ISSUES:

General library publicity and

announcements.
General new items
Announcement of forthcoming
meetings and conferences.
Details of those contents of recently
received documents which are of
interest to clients, typically and
specially of periodical articles.
Details of publications drawn from

Other types of bulletins:

Current

contents

Issues of periodicals in a named subject

area, photocopied and reproduced as
booklet.
Daily

bulletins

Concerned with the trade, economic,

financial and marketing aspects of subjects
rather than with science and technology.
Acquisitions

or Accessions List

Documents received by the library;

associates with other libraries which main
stocks are books or non periodical items.
Arrangement is by author, class number or
in a random order.

2. JOURNAL CIRCULATION
Circulations

of journals can be
affected by the pass-the-parcel
method.
Journals are automatically sent to
individual clients for perusal.
Periodical issues are circulated to
purchase duplicates for retention
in the library for scanning,
indexing, display and for
subsequent consultation.

Advantages of Journal
Circulation:
It

maybe the only practical

method of dissemination for
certain clients such as shift
managers who cannot visit the
library regularly.

It

allows the client to see all the

contents of an issue including
news items and advertisements.

Disadvantages of journal
circulation:
It

is slow the last recipient may

not be getting a current
awareness service.
The issues in circulation are not
available for consultation.
The purchase of duplicates may
use too much of the librarys
budget.
The amount of work involved.
The risk of loss damage.

3. DISPLAY
Selection

of recent acquisitions.
A useful practice which has close
links with library publicity
specially with regard to how and
where the items are displayed.

Some points which arise in

relation to display policy:
What

should be displayed?
Is there a priority between
display and circulation?
Can books be displayed prior to
the completion of processing?
How long should documents be
displayed?
Can documents be displayed on
lents?

4. Telephone calls and

personal contacts
A

good librarian will never be

unwilling to telephone or visit a
client with news or a copy of an
item known to be wanted urgently.
Example:
When a search made one day as a
result of a request proves to be
unfruitful and a document which
appears to contain the desired
information arrives in the next
mornings post.

5. Selective Dissemination of
Information ( SDI)
Maybe

defined as a service within an

organization which concerns itself
with the machine-assisted
channeling of new items of
information.
The purpose of an SDI system is not to
find a useful document for a scientist,
rather it attacks the information by
keeping the user be informed of new
documents that is published within
the are of its specialization.

Activities Involved in the

operation of SDI
Selection

of Participants
Construction of Profiles
Document Analysis
Document/ Profile Matching
Recipient Notification
Referral
Rejuvenation of profiles

Who should receive CAS and

what level?
It

is the only service that is not

usually availed of by all users of
the library.
SDI is usually given to key people
in the organization, people who
represent cream-of-the-crop, the
bread and butter of the
organization.

Thank you!