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Services for students and staff of the University of Sydney

AutoAlerts on databases using the OVID Technologies interface.

Keeping up to date in your area of interest.

Information changes so quickly that just keeping up with the literature in your field can become difficult. Ovid AutoAlerts deliver the most recent citations and abstracts right to your desktop via email, automatically, the day they become available.

Any search that can be run on an Ovid supplied database can be saved as an AutoAlert.

An AutoAlert begins as a saved search in a specific database, defined by you and stored on the database server. The search strategy can be a single subject term, a journal title or the name of an author you want to track; or a complex string of search words and limits if you are searching for something very specific.

Once an AutoAlert is saved, the server checks for updates every day. Whenever the database is updated and the search yields new results, you will receive the citations via email.

To create Autoalerts on OVID databases you first need to set up a Personal Account.

Create a new Personal Account

• Open an Ovid database from one of the Databases by subject lists. The Personal Account Login Page is only accessible from an Ovid database search screen.
• Click Personal Account.
• Click Create a New Personal Account
• Fill out the text boxes, then click Create. Note:
  • Use a unique name for your account in the Personal Account Name text box. (Case-sensitive, maximum number of 40 alpha-numeric characters).
  • The Password is case-sensitive, between 6-8 alpha-numeric characters
• Click Logoff to exit Personal Account Administration and your Personal Account.

You can use a single Personal Account to create autoalerts on any OVID databases.

Create an AutoAlert

• Select a database and create a search strategy as you normally would
• Click the "Save Search History button"
• Enter your personal account name and password and click "Login"
• Select the "AutoAlert" option
• Specify the email address(es) to which retrieved citations should be automatically sent when they become available
• Select any formatting options you like
• Note: if you want to import the emailed citations into an EndNote Library please choose Complete Reference and Reprint/Medlars under Output Format.
• Click the "Save Search" button to save your autoalert.

Please contact your Faculty Liaison Librarian for more information about setting up an AutoAlert.