The purpose of this guide is to educate and inform faculty and students about the automated current awareness and tracking features available in the law library's electronic resources. For information on creating alerts in a particular database, select the tab for the resource (or category of information) for which you desire an alert. The resulting page will provide you with information about alert creation, management, and editing, as well as video tutorials specific to that database.
For general guidance on the capability and content of each database, refer to the Overview of Available Current Awareness Features section of this Introduction page. Additionally, an overview of the current awareness options available can be found in the Types of Alerts box.
If you encounter any difficulties, or would like more information and/or assistance setting up any type of alert, please contact Michelle Botek.
For the law school community, including law school students and staff:
If you need assistance, or would like more information about our current awareness services, we offer walk-in reference service between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. year-round, with evening hours Monday through Thursday from 7:00 p.m. until 10:00 p.m. during the academic year.
You can also get reference help by using the Ask-a-Librarian function.
For faculty members desiring additional assistance with alerting services, please contact Michelle Botek, or another one of our librarians. For help with SmartCILP, contact Cindy Dabney.
Alerts and current awareness tools come in three primary forms:
(1) Saved searches will run a search you have crafted at preset intervals and send the results to you automatically, usually by email.
(2) Case/docket and legislative tracking will monitor all activity for a given case or piece of legislation. For cases, actions which will normally trigger an alert include appeals, major filings, and orders.
(3) News and blog feeds send you articles and posts as they are published.