Library Hi Tech News

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to review RefAware, a new current awareness product introduced to the University of Calgary in September 2008. Coinciding with the product's launch, a team of three librarians was established to develop expertise with RefAware and promote it within the library and across campus.

Design/methodology/approach – A brief overview of current awareness tools leads into a discussion of key features available in RefAware, supplemented by a detailed section guiding the user through the product. In addition to highlighting key promotional undertakings, comparisons are drawn between RefAware and Ingenta, one of the earliest current awareness services used by the University of Calgary Library.

Findings – Benefits of using this current awareness tool include access to current and reliable information, ability to search within multiple disciplines on a predetermined topic, the convenience of receiving alerts when new information becomes available, and direct export to RefWorks. Limitations include inability to combine search profiles into one search string, cumbersome source list creation tools, inconsistent functionality when exporting citations, and lack of clarity with regards to classification of source names.

Practical implications – While its capability to simultaneously search through many new electronic publications makes it a multi-disciplinary electronic journal, RefAware should be viewed as a complement to other research tools, not as a replacement.

Originality/value – An objective review of this new current awareness product for librarians is provided.