A current awareness service using microcomputer databases and electronic mail

Libraries are challenged economically to provide customized services to faculty and researchers who have ongoing needs for specialized information. This report describes a pilot current awareness service which provided individual faculty with weekly searches of recently published literature, while incurring relatively low costs. Search results were generated using microcomputer databases and were transmitted electronically to faculty using a combination of mainframe computing, a high-speed campus network, and electronic mail. The methodology, which incorporated an automatic mailing program, is detailed. Costs are analyzed and projected for an expanded service to a moderately large faculty population.