The results of the zetoc user evaluation are now online. Zetoc is the online tool (free to JISC-sponsored institutions) for Z39.50-compliant access to the British Library's Electronic Table of Contents database.
[via FOS News]
zetoc provides email alerts of tables-of-contents from medical journals. The most frequently requested enhancements to the alerting services were:
- Provide link to abstracts and/or full text;
- Link to library OPAC/e-journals list if available locally, ILL if not;
- Alerts need to be more prompt/timely/in order;
- Full journal reference for each title;
- Want ability to download abstract into EndNote;
- More advanced search (Boolean, wildcards).
Ever heard of RSS?
From the user's perspective, busy professionals, journalists and researchers would seem to be ideal candidates to embrace news reader technology. For targeted information, RSS feeds will surely eclipse news alerts once the technology lets you parse the requested subject matter. But already, a medical reporter could subscribe to an RSS feed and receive updates published to a health database.