Saving a Search as an Alert
Search Alerts save valuable research time, and can be set up to provide automatic e-mail notification whenever new search results become available. You can also retrieve those alerts to perform the search immediately, instead of waiting for the alert to run. There are two ways to save your search as an alert.
To save your search as an alert from the Share link:
Run a search and view your search results.
Click the Share link and select E-mail Alert from the resulting pop- up menu. The Create Alert window appears over the result list.
3. If you have not done so already, click the Sign in link in the alert window to sign into your My EBSCOhost folder.
4. Set your alert parameters and click Save Alert.
Note: To view all available alert settings, click the Advanced Search link.
To save a search as an alert from the Search Alert/History window:
Run a search and view your search results.
Click the Search History/Alerts link, and then click the Save Searches/Alerts link. The Save Search Alert Screen appears. If you have not already signed in your personal account, you will be prompted to do so.
On the Save Search Alert Screen
Enter a Name and Description for the Alert.
To run the Alert against a different database, select the Databases from the drop-down list. (Hold down the control key and left-click your mouse to select multiple databases.)
Search strategy - The search terms are displayed. (not editable)
In the Save Search As area of the screen:
To save the search as an Alert that can be automatically run, click the Alert radio button. The Save Search Alert Screen appears.
To select how often the search will be run, from the Frequency drop-down list, select one:
To limit which articles are searched, from the Articles published within the last drop-down list, select one:
In the Run Alert for field, select one:
In the Alert Options area of the screen:
Select the Alert results format: Brief, Detailed, or Bibliographic Manager.
To limit EBSCOhost access to only the articles in alert (rather than the entire site), mark the checkbox to the left of this field.
Note: When this box is marked, the folder feature will not be available to users accessing articles from the alert.
In the E-mail Options area of the screen:
Indicate how you would like to be notified. Select one:
Enter your E-mail Address. If you are entering multiple e-mail addresses, place a semicolon between each e-mail address.
Hide addresses from recipients - if you select this option, the e-mail addresses you enter will be placed into the BCC (Blind Copy) field of the e-mail, rather than the "To" field.
In the Subject field, enter a brief explanation that will appear in the subject line of the Alert e-mail.
Title - you can optionally enter a title for the e-mail. The default value for the Title field is: EBSCOhost Alert Notification.
E-mail [From] address - Defaults to: EPAlerts@EPNET.COM. You can enter a different "From" e-mail address if desired.
Select the E-mail format to use: Plain Text or HTML.
To have your search string included with your results, mark the Include query string in results checkbox. To include the alert frequency, mark the frequency checkbox.
When you have finished making changes, click the Save button.
Related terms: alert, EBSCO Discovery Service, EDS
Setting Up a Journal Alert
Journal Alerts save valuable research time, and can be set up to provide automatic e-mail notification whenever a new issue of a particular journal becomes available in the EBSCO interface you are using.
Creating a Journal Alert
To create a journal alert:
Click the Publications link at the top of the screen. The Publications Screen displays.
To locate the publication, enter the title in the Browse Publications field and click Browse, or use the A - Z links and left/right arrows to browse through the list of titles.
From the journal's Publication Details Screen, click the Share link, and then click the E-mail Alert link
The Journal Alert window appears, with the Subject and E-mail from address automatically filled in. If you have not already signed into your My EBSCOhost account, do so by clicking the Sign in link.
Set your alert parameters and click Save Alert.
Notes:
In the E-Mail area
Subject – enter a brief explanation that will appear in the subject line of the Journal Alert e-mail.
E-mail from - defaults to EPAlerts@EPNET.COM. You can enter a different "From" e-mail address if desired.
E-mail to - to be notified by e-mail when a new issue is available, enter your e- mail address. If you are entering multiple e-mail addresses, place a semicolon between each e-mail address.
Hide Addresses from recipients – if you select this option, the e-mail addresses you enter will be placed into the BCC (Blind Copy) field of the e-mail, rather than the “To” field.
Select the E-mail format to use - Plain Text or HTML.
E-mail contents - Indicate whether you want to include: Link to table of contents or Link to individual articles.
In the General Settings area
Select the Results format to use - Brief, Detailed, or Bibliographic Manager formats.
Alert on full text only – Mark the check box to indicate that you want to be alerted only when the full text is available.
Using the Advanced Alert Settings
Click the Advanced Settings link to view the Journal Alert screen, featuring all available parameters.
In the Run Alert for field, select how long the journal alert should run:
In the Alert Options area
Select the Alert results format to use: Brief, Detailed, or Bibliographic Manager formats.
To limit EBSCO access to only the articles in alert (rather than the entire site), mark the checkbox to the left of this field.
Note: When this box is marked, the folder feature will not be available to users accessing articles from the alert.
Alert on full text only - Mark the check box to indicate that you want to set up an alert for only the full text
In the E-Mail Options area
Indicate how you would like to be notified. Select one:
E-mail Address - to be notified by e-mail when a new issue is available, enter your e-mail address. If you are entering multiple e-mail addresses, place a semicolon between each e-mail address.
Hide Addresses from recipients - if you select this option, the e-mail addresses you enter will be placed into the BCC (Blind Copy) field of the e-mail, rather than the "To" field.
Subject - enter a brief explanation that will appear in the subject line of the Journal Alert e-mail.
Title - you can optionally enter a title for the e-mail. The default value for the Title field is: EBSCOhost Alert Notification.
E-mail [From] address - defaults to EPAlerts@EPNET.COM. You can enter a different "From" e-mail address if desired.
Select the E-mail format to use: Plain Text or HTML.
Indicate whether you want to include: Link to TOC page on EBSCOhost or Article links embedded within the results.
If you select the Link to TOC page on EBSCOhost option when setting up a journal alert, the link created will launch a search against the database that will return records from the new issue, based on the time frame you selected when you set up the alert.
Include in e-mail - To have your search string included with your results, mark the Query check box. To include the frequency (how often the alert will run), mark the Frequency check box.
When you have finished making changes, click Save. You will be returned to the Publication Details Screen. A message is displayed that indicates a journal alert has been set for the publication.
Editing a Search Alert
To edit a search alert:
From the Advanced Search Screen, click on the Search History link below the Find field.
Click the Retrieve Alerts link.
Sign in to My EBSCOhost.
Click the Search Alerts link.
Locate the alert you want to edit.
Click on the Edit Alert link to access the Save Alert page.
Edit the alert.
Click Save.
Note: If you would like to edit the search terms or limiters/expanders of your alert, click the Edit link in the Search History box at the bottom of the alert.
Editing a Journal Alert
To edit a journal alert:
From the Advanced Search Screen, click on the Search History link below the Find field.
Click the Retrieve Alerts link.
Sign in to My EBSCOhost.
Click the Journal Alerts link.
Locate the alert you want to edit.
Click on the Edit Alert link to access the Save Alert page.
Edit the alert.
Click Save.
Note: You can only edit the Description, Frequency, and Email Properties of an alert.
Deleting a Search Alert
You can delete your Alert by logging in to your My EBSCOhost personal folder (once you are logged in to EBSCOhost).
To delete an alert:
Click the Sign in link in the upper left corner of the screen.
Click the Folder link.
Your folder contents display, with a menu located on the left-hand column.
Viewing a Search Alert
EBSCOhost alerts are set to display the first 100 results. If your alert produces more than 100 results, and you want to view the remaining results, there are two ways to view all results from your alerts.
Click on the persistent link in the alert email to view all available results or view them by using the Retrieve Alerts feature in EBSCOhost.
To view all results from an alert in EBSCOhost:
Notes:
If you do not remember your My EBSCOhost login values, click Sign in and select either I forgot my password or I forgot my user name and password for assistance.
If you are receiving a search alert that someone else has set up for you, only the creator of an alert can stop the alert from being sent