Building a personalized ToC service for the Library of the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin
| Pages | 339-350 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/02640471211241627 |
| Published date | 01 June 2012 |
| Date | 01 June 2012 |
| Author | Vinit Kumar,Devika P. Madalli,Mithun Raj M. |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Building a personalized ToC
service for the Library of the
Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin
Vinit Kumar
Dr Ranganathan Institute of Library and Information Science – Bundelkhand
University, Jhansi, India
Devika P. Madalli
Documentation Research and Training Centre, Indian Statistical Institute,
Bangalore, India, and
Mithun Raj M.
Library and Information Centre, National Institute of Oceanography,
Panjim, India
Abstract
Purpose – This paper aims to share the experiences gained while developing an electronically
accessible personalized and categorized current awareness service (CAS) for the Fellows of the
Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin – Institute for Advanced Study. The paper also aims to communicate
the design and technology behind the development of this service.
Design/methodology/approach – A list of journals of interest was compiled. The respective RSS
feed links were handpicked from journal web pages. The service was configured to automatically fetch
and classify the tables of contents (ToCs) according to the Fellows’ interest. The same was presented in
a user-friendly interface.
Findings – RSS feeds from electronic journals can be used as a CAS tool to serve frequently updated
information to the desk of the users.
Practical implications – The paper can be used as a starting point by practicing librarians to start
similar services in small special libraries to strengthen the library’s publicity and outreach activities.
Originality/value – This paper demonstrates how personalized current content service can be
provided using open source tools.
Keywords Current awarenessservices, Table of contents, RSS feeds,Really simple syndication,
Information management, Collectionsmanagement, Periodicals
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Researchers generally carry out a varied range of activities in the research process
such as discovering, gathering, creating and sharing information and knowledge, all of
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0264-0473.htm
On the occasion of their Golden Jubilee the Goethe Institutes in India in cooperation with the
Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin organized and sponsored two monthly internships for students
from the Documentation Research and Training Centre (DRTC), Indian Statistical Institute at the
Library of the Wissenschaftskolleg in Berlin. The personalized ToC service described in this
paper was developed by authors during their stay. The authors are grateful to Goethe Institute,
India and Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin for funding the stay and the visit.
Building a
personalized ToC
service
339
Received September 2010
Revised December 2010
Accepted December 2010
The Electronic Library
Vol. 30 No. 3, 2012
pp. 339-350
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0264-0473
DOI 10.1108/02640471211241627
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