Week 8 Thing 19

I researched both alerts and have taken directly from the website:

Run a search on EBSCOhost and view your search results.

Click the Search History/Alerts link, and then click the Save Searches/Alerts link. The Save Search Alert Screen appears. If you have not already signed in your personal account, you will be prompted to do so.

On the Save Search Alert Screen

Enter a Name and Description for the Alert.

To run the Alert against a different database, select the Databases from the drop-down list. (Hold down the control key and left-click your mouse to select multiple databases.)

Search strategy – The search terms are displayed. (not editable)

In the Save Search As area of the screen:

To save the search as an Alert that can be automatically run, click the Alert radio button. The Save Search Alert Screen appears.

To select how often the search will be run, from the Frequency drop-down list, select one:

Once a day (the default)
Once a week
Bi-weekly
Once a month
To limit which articles are searched, from the Articles published within the last drop-down list, select one:

One month
Two months
Six months
One year
No limit (the default)
In the Run Alert for field, select one:
One month
Two months
Six months
One year (the default)
In the Alert Options area of the screen:

Select the Alert results format: Brief, Detailed, or Bibliographic Manager.

To limit EBSCOhost access to only the articles in alert (rather than the entire site), mark the checkbox to the left of this field.

In the E-mail Options area of the screen:

Indicate how you would like to be notified. Select one:
E-mail all alerts and notices (the default)
E-mail only creation notice
No e-mail (RSS only) - if you select this option, the remaining E-mail Properties will be hidden (because they are not necessary for RSS).
Enter your E-mail Address. If you are entering multiple e-mail addresses, place a semicolon between each e-mail address.


Hide addresses from recipients - if you select this option, the e-mail addresses you enter will be placed into the BCC (Blind Copy) field of the e-mail, rather than the “To” field.


In the Subject field, enter a brief explanation that will appear in the subject line of the Alert e-mail.


Title - you can optionally enter a title for the e-mail. The default value for the Title field is: EBSCOhost Alert Notification.


E-mail [From] address - Defaults to: EPAlerts@EPNET.COM. You can enter a different "From" e-mail address if desired.


Select the E-mail format to use: Plain Text or HTML.


To have your search string included with your results, mark the Include query string in results checkbox. To include the alert frequency, mark the frequency checkbox.


When you have finished making changes, click the Save button.

I searched for School Library Journal as that is something I use and it is a held title from 1975 to the present.

When completing searches about porcupines in elementary, middle and high school sections there are several differences. Of course the elementary is the most heavily graphic and colorful with larger fonts. Visually, there does not appear to be differences in the middle school and high school versions but search results are indeed greater with the high school version. I presume reading levels are not limited with the high school version but could be defined/limited in both middle and high school if so desired.

I used the same search on the pamphlet,images, and video assignment. I looked up Type 2 Diabetes under each of them and found something under each. It was neat to think about being able to email these professionally done and informational videos, etc. to those who may need them. My mom does not use computers but there were certainly several flyers of interest that I could print out and mail to her.

Because our teachers are in the computer lab with their class and I'm not, it pays for me to show these resources to the teachers frequently. I am given time at each staff meeting to share information with staff. It can be done during this time or 30 minute training sessions tailored to the intermediate teachers may work best. If this is the avenue taken, I need to make it worth their while - treats and information! It is easiest and most appropriate to lead classes through these searches when they actually have a pending project and a need. It takes time but tutorials can be worked through if you interrupt to show actual searching after a specific tutorial.
The video of upcoming changes would have been interesting had I been able to get audio. I reset everything but could not hear a thing.

My principal tends to have a focus each year, ie. positive school climate, positive school discipline,etc. If I complete a search with a valuable article and she comments, I can personally show her how to set up her own search alerts. In the past I have targeted staff members who are working on graduate courses and have appreciated being shown this feature. They feel like they have someone out there doing the searching for them.