Monitoring legal journal articles

Some time ago, I posted a note on "monitoring journal-reported research" via, among other strategies, generating custom RSS feeds. One journal service that has added this feature since the time that I wrote that earlier post is Current Law Journal Content.

How it works: Conduct a search; the search results page will then display a "feed version of search" link that you can subscribe to in order to be alerted when future results occur that match your search criteria. That's it!

Google Alerts

I have posted in the past on strategies for keeping up with web-based resources. One strategy I mentioned was using Google Alerts to monitor online developments for you. If you have a Google account, you can set up an alert to look for designated keywords in news articles, blog posts, web pages, videos, Google groups, or a combination of news, blogs, and web pages. Results (or matches to your search terms) can be delivered in the form of an email or an RSS feed.

I use a series of alerts to check for literature reviews and bibliographies to include in my forced migration research guide. I've found that while Google often finds resources I'm already aware of or that are already in my guide, every now and then, it will locate something a bit more obscure.

For more information, check out this FAQ.

23 Things: Forced Migration RSS

In blog posts past, I've highlighted many of the different RSS feeds that are now available from forced migration and humanitarian web sites. I thought it might be useful to provide an index of sorts to those previous listings here:

Organizations

• Brookings Institution
• International Organizations
• Policy/Research Institutes

Thematic

• Human Rights Developments
• Humanitarian News
• Refugee/Forced Migration Blogs

23 Things: The Sixth Tool = RSS

I introduced RSS when I first set up this blog, so rather than re-invent the wheel, I think I'll just re-post my original introduction! Here it is, with only minimal updating:

Once upon a time, researchers who wanted to keep up with frequently updated information on the web (news, publication titles, research developments, etc.) had to remember to regularly visit bookmarked sites of interest or register for e-mail alerts or newsletters (if these were available). Today, an XML file format called RSS ("Really Simple Syndication") simplifies this process dramatically by delivering "headlines" to you directly so that you can peruse news and information in one central location. Content is distributed via RSS in the form of a feed that must be read by an application called a newsreader or news aggregator (more about this below).

Increasingly, content providers all across the web are beginning to offer RSS feeds of one kind or another. To determine whether or not a web site has RSS feeds, just look for a reference to "site feed," "syndicated content," or an orange icon that either says RSS or XML on it or that looks like this: . Also, if you use Internet Explorer v.7 or Mozilla's Firefox as your browser, this icon appears in a toolbar at the top of the browser. It is normally gray, but if you visit a site that offers RSS, it will turn orange, indicating that a feed is available. (NB: I use IE7 and to be honest, the icon is not 100% effective; but it's worth keeping an eye on.)

So who in the forced migration information community offers RSS feeds? Here are a few examples:
- News services such as IRIN
- Blogs such as RI's WorldBridge
- Information hubs like ReliefWeb

As noted above, you need to have a newsreader or aggregator to be able to view RSS content delivered via a feed. You can choose between a client-side reader (i.e., an application you download onto your computer) or a web-based reader. Some are free and some require payment. This site offers a fairly complete listing of the various options. Bloglines is one of the more popular free web-based readers. Often, newsreaders are made available through personalized portal providers like My Yahoo! or Google.

To begin reading RSS content, simply copy and paste the URL for the RSS feed into the reader program you choose. I experimented briefly with Bloglines, but I found that at times certain feeds were not updating even though new headlines were available. In addition, I could not always re-display feeds after I had read them (although this was probably a temporary glitch). I decided to try Google Reader instead, and so far, so good! It's very easy to use. Both Bloglines and Google Reader allow you to create folders, which is important if you want to be able to keep your feeds organized.

RSS Feeds for Policy/Research Publications

Most research centres and think tanks in the forced migration community have not yet adopted RSS as a standard mechanism for distributing news and information about their publishing activities. But this is slowly starting to change. Here are five examples of organizations that do offer RSS feeds:

European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE) [web site] [feed]

Feinstein International Center (FIC) [web site] [feed]

Humanitarian Policy Group (HPG), Overseas Development Institute (ODI) [web site] [feed]
- Other ODI feeds are available.

Nordic Africa Institute (NAI) [web site] [publications feed]
- Other NAI feeds are available.

United States Institute of Peace (USIP) [web site] [feed]

Several information services use RSS to announce new additions to their collections. Subscribing to their feeds is a useful way to keep track of a wide variety of new policy and research publications. One caveat: There may be a delay between the time a report is received and the time information about that report is disseminated to a wider audience. Examples of these services include:

Eldis Newsfeeds [access] [conflict feed] [migration feed]

Forced Migration Current Awareness Blog [site] [feed]

Human Security Gateway [general feed] [generate a customized feed]

Keeping Up with Human Rights Developments

December 10 is Human Rights Day. To stay informed about human rights developments around the world, sign up for a selection of RSS/email alerts, such as:

Amnesty International RSS feeds (offered by type of information)

Asian Human Rights Commission email lists (by information type, country or language)

Fédération Internationale des ligues des Droits de l'Homme RSS feeds (offered by type of information)

Human Rights Watch RSS feeds (offered by theme and region)

International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights mailing list

Wish List: RSS Feeds for New Book Titles

In an earlier post, I noted that Kumarian Press did not provide notification services and therefore represented a good candidate for "watching" via a web page monitoring service. As it happens, Kumarian Press now offers an RSS feed to inform users of its news and activities. (For example, I learned about the new classroom guide developed for Larry Minear's book, The Humanitarian Enterprise, from the feed.) Unfortunately, the RSS feed does not include a new book listing. Or at least, not so far.

KP is not alone. This LLRX.com article laments the fact that very few legal publishers offer RSS feeds of new titles. And my previously-posted brief listing of forced migration publishers suggests a parallel tendency to offer email updates over RSS feeds. One notable exception is Brill/Martinus Nijhoff, which offers an RSS feed for its "Refugees and Human Rights" series, as well as feeds for both forthcoming and newly available titles in various subject areas, including "human rights and humanitarian law."

In the meantime, my personal solution for keeping up with new books is to generate customized feeds for various keyword searches undertaken in Amazon.com, the online bookseller. I explain in this post how I then display the titles in the "new books" feature I make available in my other blog, Forced Migration Current Awareness.

Keeping Up with Web Resources

One area I didn't cover in the RSQ article is how to find out about new web resources. There are several tools that you can use to learn about new web sites generally, in the form of newsletters and RSS feeds for subject gateways or directories. Here are some examples of each:

Awareness Watch Newsletter - http://www.awarenesswatch.com/
- Monthly listing with subject focus. RSS feed available for new issues.

DocuTicker - http://www.docuticker.com/
- Daily; this blog highlights selected resources and reports from government agencies and NGOs. RSS feed available for new postings. (Note: Because this blog generates a lot of daily postings, I opted to set up a page monitor to alert me to new additions just to the "immigration" section as an alternative to the RSS feed.)

InSITE - http://library2.lawschool.cornell.edu/insiteasp/default.asp
- Bi-weekly; focus is on legal resources. Both RSS feed and email alerts available.

Internet Resources Newsletter - http://www.hw.ac.uk/libwww/irn/irn.html
- Monthly, with an academic bent. Subscribe to an RSS feed or email alert. (Note: The editor is also involved in a project to promote "journal current awareness." The companion blog provides updates on new developments.)

Intute: Social Sciences - http://www.intute.ac.uk/socialsciences/
- Gateway to web resources in the social sciences. Keep track of new resources added to the service by browsing the latest additions, subscribing to their RSS feed or monitoring their blog.

Scout Report - http://scout.wisc.edu/Reports/ScoutReport/Current/
- Weekly, with annotations of both academic and general interest resources. Distributed online or by email.

Alternatively, experiment with a search engine monitoring service, like Google Alerts. You can specify keywords that you wish to have monitored (e.g., >>protracted refugee situations<<, >>humanitarian AND "literature review"<<, etc.). When a match is made, you are sent an "alert" or email message with a description and link to the resource. For information on how to use this service, visit the Google Guide tutorial.

Monitoring Research Reports

Many if not most organizations within the forced migration research community have established some kind of presence online. And they often provide notification services in order to apprise visitors of their activities and publication updates. For example, the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement maintains a listserv, the Feinstein International Center offers an RSS feed, Forced Migration Online has set up a blog, and the Refugee Women's Resource Project circulates an electronic newsletter.

To find other research institutes online and their respective mechanisms for keeping the public informed, search in Forced Migration Online's directory or ReliefWeb's directory.

In addition, take advantage of the e-mail alerts and RSS feeds provided by the following report/grey literature repositories:

ecoi.net
- Country of origin information database.

Eldis
- Development information gateway, with resource guides on "Conflict and Security" and "Aid."

Human Security Gateway
- "Refugees and internally displaced people" is an option in the topic menu.

Refworld
- UNHCR's collection of country reports, policy documents, and legal information.

ReliefWeb
- Humanitarian information hub, with a "Policy and Issues" documents library.

Forced Migration Book Publishers

The companies listed below regularly publish forced migration-related titles. Notification services that they offer are also indicated.

Berghahn Books
- Publishes the Studies in Forced Migration series edited by the Refugee Studies Centre (RSC). Sign up for their mailing list and select "refugee studies" as your area of interest to receive information about new titles.

Brookings Institution Press
- Publishes books produced by the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement, among others. Sign up for their weekly e-mail newsletter for book news.

Kumarian Press
- Publishes humanitarian titles including the World Disasters Report series. Their RSS feed provides news about recent developments and activities.

Lexington Books
- Publishes the Program on Migration and Refugee Studies series, advisors for which are based at the Institute for the Study of International Migration (ISIM). E-mail notification of new titles is available by broad subject category.

Martinus Nijhoff Publishers
- Publishes the Refugees and Human Rights series. Subscribe to their "human rights and humanitarian law" RSS feeds for forthcoming titles or new books.

Oxford University Press
- Publishes The State of the World's Refugees series for UNHCR as well as editions of The Refugee in International Law. New books are announced in monthly subject-based e-mail newsletters.

Routledge
- Publishes the Global Institutions series, which includes titles on UNHCR, ICRC and other humanitarian organizations. Sign up for eUpdates by subject.

Monitoring New Additions to Library Collections

Libraries keep researchers informed of new additions to their collections either through accessions (or new acquisitions) lists or through "new titles" features in their library catalogues. This post lists several resources to help keep track of new books.

1. Accessions Lists (all the ones listed below can also be e-mailed to you upon request)

• British Library for Development Studies (BLDS) offers BLDS Updates every 2-4 weeks; see especially the one for "conflict, disasters, refugees."
• Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters (CRED) Documentation Centre provides new acquisitions lists.
• Refugee Studies Centre Library compiles a quarterly list.
• UEL Refugee Council Archive puts together a bi-monthly list.
• UNHCR Library produces its Library Highlights list 3-4 times per year.

2. New Titles

ECLAS: European Commission Union Catalogue
- First, search the catalogue. With registration, users can then set up e-mail alerts for updated search results; visit the help section for more information about bibliographic alerts.

ICRC: International Committee of the Red Cross Library & Research Service
- View new additions to the catalogue by clicking on the "Nouveautés" option.

Peace Palace Library
- View new titles when you select one of the many international law topics listed. Or sign up to receive e-mail alerts for a specific topic.

Tufts University Libraries
- View new acquisitions by library, broad subject, or keyword search; RSS feeds are available for all search types.

UN Geneva Library
- Select "New books and articles by subjects" to display subject options available for review; "Humanitarian Aid and Relief" is available as a category.

Monitoring Journal-reported Research

Researchers can monitor the scholarly journal literature in the databases below by taking advantage of one or more of the following notification services: requesting topic, author, citation, or search term alerts; generating custom RSS feeds; or receiving updated results from saved searches.

FindArticles (multidisciplinary)
- An article database that lets you generate a keyword-based RSS feed; you can do so by scrolling down to the search box at the bottom of the RSS site map page.

HighBeam Research (multidisciplinary)
- Another database that allows you to build a custom RSS feed based on your search terms; this page explains how.

HighWire Press (life sciences emphasis, but covers social sciences as well)
- Through the CiteTrack service, you can request e-mail alerts for keywords, authors or citations that appear in new journal articles. Alerts also can be created immediately after you conduct a search. For more information, visit the CiteTrack page.

PILOTS Database (mental health literature)
- Registration allows you to save a search, and then be notified by e-mail when new results matching your search criteria appear; more information about alerts are available here.

PubMed (medical and health sciences)
- You can generate RSS feeds after a search with no registration; steps to do so are provided here. Creating a free NCBI account allows you to save a search and then be notified by e-mail when those search results are updated.

Note: These databases provide complimentary access to bibliographic citations and abstracts for journal articles. Accessing full-text content generally requires payment (premium service), although one can often find free articles within the collections as well.

Monitoring Other Journals

What if you want to monitor other journals besides those listed in the previous post? These resources can help you identify the notification services available for particular journal titles.

Multidisciplinary

Informaworld
- Browse for an individual journal title and its RSS feed; register in order to sign up for e-mail alerts.

IngentaConnect
- Browse or search to find an individual journal title and its RSS feed; request free e-mail alerts for up to five titles.

University of Nevada, Reno Libraries
- Scroll down through this listing of over 5000 journal titles and their corresponding RSS feeds.

University of Saskatchewan Library
- Browse this alphabetical listing of journals with RSS feeds.

Health/Medical Sciences

HighWire Press
- Browse or search to find an individual journal title and request an e-mail alert.

Law

Current Law Journal Content
- Browse through the list of legal journals to locate a feed.

Monitoring Forced Migration Journals

Here is a listing of periodicals that regularly publish articles relating to forced migration and/or humanitarian assistance. I've indicated the notification services for each title, i.e., e-mail alerts and/or RSS feeds. You will need to register with the publisher to receive e-mail alerts; the links I've provided direct you to the appropriate page to do so.

Development in Practice
Published by Routledge
E-mail alerts through Informaworld
RSS feed for contents of current issue (RSS icon located in upper right corner)

Disasters: The Journal of Disaster Studies, Policy and Management
Published by Blackwell
E-mail alerts
RSS feed for contents of current issue (RSS icon located in left navigation menu)

European Journal of Migration and Law
Published by Brill
E-mail alerts through IngentaConnect
RSS feed for contents of current issue (note: you can't view this feed, but you can copy and paste it into your newsreader)

Forced Migration Review
Published by the Refugee Studies Centre (RSC), in English, Arabic, French and Spanish
E-mail alerts

Humanitarian Exchange
Published by the Humanitarian Practice Network
E-mail alerts (receive copies of the magazine as a Network member; free registration)

International Journal of Refugee Law
Published by Oxford University Press (OUP)
E-mail alerts
RSS feeds for contents of current issue, contents of recent issues, advance access articles

International Migration
Published by Blackwell
E-mail alerts
RSS feed for contents of current issue (RSS icon located in left navigation menu)

International Migration Review
Published by Blackwell
E-mail alerts
RSS feed for contents of current issue (RSS icon located in left navigation menu)

International Review of the Red Cross
Published by Cambridge University Press (as of issue no. 861)
E-mail alerts
RSS feeds: CUP requires users to register before they can access their desired RSS feed.

Journal of Humanitarian Assistance (JHA)
Published by the Feinstein International Center (as of 2007)
E-mail alerts
RSS feed for new content

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies
Published by Routledge
E-mail alerts through Informaworld
RSS feed for contents of current issue (RSS icon located in upper right corner)

Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies
Published by Haworth Press
E-mail alerts
RSS feed for contents of latest issue

Journal of Refugee Studies
Published by Oxford University Press (OUP)
E-mail alerts
RSS feeds for contents of current issue, contents of recent issues, advance access articles

Refugee Survey Quarterly
Published by Oxford University Press (OUP)
E-mail alerts
RSS feeds for contents of current issue, contents of recent issues, advance access articles

All about RSS

Once upon a time, researchers who wanted to keep up with frequently updated information on the web (news, publication titles, research developments, etc.) had to remember to regularly visit bookmarked sites of interest or register for e-mail alerts or newsletters (if these were available). Today, an XML file format called RSS ("Really Simple Syndication") simplifies this process dramatically by delivering "headlines" to you directly so that you can peruse news and information in one central location. Content is distributed via RSS in the form of a feed that must be read by an application called a newsreader or news aggregator (more about this below).

Increasingly, content providers all across the web are beginning to offer RSS feeds of one kind or another. To determine whether or not a web site has RSS feeds, just look for a reference to "site feed," "syndicated content," or an orange icon that either says RSS or XML on it or that looks like this: . Also, if you use Internet Explorer v.7 or Mozilla's Firefox as your browser, this icon appears in a toolbar at the top of the browser. It is normally gray, but if you visit a site that offers RSS, it will turn orange, indicating that a feed is available. (NB: I use IE7 and to be honest, the icon is not 100% effective; but it's worth keeping an eye on.)

So who in the forced migration information community offers RSS feeds? Here are a few examples:
- News services such as IRIN
- Blogs such as RI's WorldBridge
- Information hubs like ReliefWeb

As noted above, you need to have a newsreader or aggregator to be able to view RSS content delivered via a feed. You can choose between a client-side reader (i.e., an application you download onto your computer) or a web-based reader. Some are free and some require payment. This site offers a fairly complete listing of the various options. Bloglines is one of the more popular free web-based readers. Often, newsreaders are made available through personalized portal providers like My Yahoo! or Google.

To begin reading RSS content, simply copy and paste the URL for the RSS feed into the reader program you choose. I experimented briefly with Bloglines, but I found that at times certain feeds were not updating even though new headlines were available. In addition, I could not always re-display feeds after I had read them (although this was probably a temporary glitch). I decided to try Google Reader instead, and so far, so good! Both Bloglines and Google Reader allow you to create folders, which is important if you want to be able to keep your feeds organized.