Library Transcripts

VIdeo URL: https://youtu.be/mhJv3-tho5M

 

Narration: Search alerts allow you to have databases run successful searches for you and forward any new publications that fit the parameters of the search directly to your email. This can save time and help you keep up to date on research in your discipline. Instead of going back to the database again and again to do the same search, the database will do the search on its own and you'll get alerts about any new articles that match your search.

Visual: Database search screen

Narration: Let's go to the library website and set one up. To create a search alert, you first must conduct a search in one of the Walden databases. Here is a search I did in Academic Search Complete. This database is provided to Walden library by EBSCO Host.

Narration: EBSCO requires an account before you can set up a search alert. These accounts are free to make and provide other features, such as saving searches and articles. However, they are with EBSCO, not the library. It is important to remember that you must log into these accounts before you can save anything, or those items will be lost when you exit the database.

Narration: Click on the link to sign in at the top of the page. If you do not have an account, you can click on Create One Now and follow the steps to create an account. Once you're logged in and you've conducted a search that has brought back favorable results, click on the Share button at the top of your Results page. From the drop-down menu, click on Email Alert.

Narration: Now you can set up how you would like to receive your alert. It is recommended that you click on HTML for convenience. You can provide any email for this alert. You can also set the frequency-- one day, once a week, biweekly, or once a month.

Narration: Change "articles published within the last year" to "no limit." This way, you won't miss any articles that may be older, but are new to the databases. Once you have decided how you would like to receive your emails, click on the Save Alert button.

Narration: You can set up search alerts in almost all of the Walden databases. However, every database is a little bit different. Things to look for are buttons that say Share, Save Search Alert, Set Search Alert, Save This Search, or Set Email Alert.

Narration: If you can't find it right away, click on the Ask a Librarian button and send us an email. We'll get back to you as soon as possible. So that's how you can stay on top of the literature in your field by setting up a search alert. Thank you for watching.