Whether employed in a traditional library setting or providing competitive intelligence in a corporate environment, current awareness is crucial to our success on the job.
Information professionals need to be aware of the newest, most relevant reference and research materials published in a particular area or areas. We need to know what online and/or print sources will best serve our clientelle, whether we're serving members of the general public, high school or university students, college faculty, or corporate executives and CEO's. We need to monitor and evaluate the many new online databases that become available, and find out what valuable resources are being made available via the Web. And we need to keep up with industry news and changes in information technology, which can be particularly important in our ever-evolving field.
While there is no way to keep informed of every newsworthy development, thankfully there are tools out there to help us with the formidable task of keeping current. Here are a few of my favourites:
Librarians' Index to the Internet - New This Week
http://www.lii.org/search?title=New+This...
One of the best ways to keep abreast of new, quality Websites. And you can even have the list emailed to you every week http://www.lii.org/search/file/mailingli... - very handy.
Librarians' Index to the Internet - Keeping Up With New Internet Resources
http://lii.org/search/file/newsites
A great guide on the subject of current awareness. Lists daily, weekly, and monthly current awareness publications for librarians. Some of the resources listed are included here.
Refdesk.com - New Sites Added
http://www.refdesk.com/newlinks.html
Updated weekly. One of the best ways to keep current on reference resources on the Web.
The Scout Report
http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/report/sr/curre...
I love the Scout Report and look forward to it's arrival in my inbox every Friday. It offers "a selection of new and newly discovered Internet resources of interest to researchers and educators". A fast and convenient way to stay informed every week.
Current Awareness Resources via Streaming Audio and Video
http://gwis2.circ.gwu.edu/~gprice/audio....
Another of Gary Price's excellent resources. This collection of useful tools is fairly new to me and definitely worth having a look at, especially if you need to keep up with news and public affairs for your work.
ResearchBuzz News
http://www.researchbuzz.com/news/index.h...
Also comes in an email digest. Great for industry news and information technology developments.
Digital Librarian - New Sites
http://www.digital-librarian.com/new.html
A weekly publication that you can have emailed to you. Another quality resource from Margaret Vail Anderson.
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