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Cas Sdi

Current Awareness Services (CAS) aim to promptly inform users about new developments in their fields without tailoring content to specific interests, while Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI) provides personalized information based on individual user needs. Various forms of CAS include journal circulation, contents page services, and newsletters, whereas SDI focuses on delivering relevant information to users based on their profiles. Both services utilize modern technology to enhance efficiency and accessibility of information for researchers and specialists.

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Sunil Dhankhar
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51 views2 pages

Cas Sdi

Current Awareness Services (CAS) aim to promptly inform users about new developments in their fields without tailoring content to specific interests, while Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI) provides personalized information based on individual user needs. Various forms of CAS include journal circulation, contents page services, and newsletters, whereas SDI focuses on delivering relevant information to users based on their profiles. Both services utilize modern technology to enhance efficiency and accessibility of information for researchers and specialists.

Uploaded by

Sunil Dhankhar
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© © All Rights Reserved
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CURRENT AWARNESS SERVICES

CAS has been defined by Dr. S.R. Ranganathan as “Listing the documents appearing during the period
covered, and without being selected to suit the requirements of a particular reader or of a specific topic
under investigation. The exponential growth of nascent micro-information is at such an alarming rate that
its communication to the specialists without the loss of time has become a serious problem and therefore,
the easiest way to keep them up-to-date with the latest developments is to provide current literature on their
subject of specialisation”. The Current Awareness Service endeavours to keep the user informed promptly
of all the nascent thoughts created in their fields of work and related fields. It is rather an announcement
service to satisfy the current approach of users to information.

Its aim is to notify the information to the users as quickly as possible. To name one such unique service is
“CURRENT CONTENTS” (CC) brought out by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), Philadelphia,
(USA). This weekly service is issued and air speeded in 7 series, namely:

(i) CC : Life Sciences (ii) CC : Agriculture, Biology & Environmental Science (iii) CC: Social &
Behavioural Sciences (iv)CC :Physical, Chemical & Earth Sciences (v)CC ;Engineering, Computing
& Technology (vi)CC :Clinical Medicine(vii)CC :Arts & Humanities

Forms and Formats of CAS


The time and energy of the users have to be saved and this is done through various dissemination services
including CAS. Prof. Prasher has explained forms and formats of some important current awareness
services as following.
Journal Circulation
In this service, journals along with a feedback slip are sent to users who return them after scanning of
contents, or library staff themselves collect these journals from the users. In either way after the receipt of
feed back, the photocopies of articles, if required, are sent to them. This process of circulation of journals
from user to user is very cumbersome and time consuming hence not feasible for providing timely or time
bound services.
Contents Page Service
Make photocopies of contents pages of journals received in the library and circulate among their users.
IARI Library brought out one such service fortnightly entitled “Current Contents in Agriculture (CCA)” in
4 series
List of Periodicals Received
A compile list of journals arranged in alphabetical order title-wise giving volume and issue number, month,
year or date of publication is prepared. Its periodicity may be weekly or fortnightly or daily in small and
special libraries. Punjab Agricultural University brought out a regular weekly service under title
“Periodicals Received This Week” and circulated among its own departments/colleges as well as to other
organizations. However, this service is much useful to those who keep a record of journals which they scan
regularly.
List of Additions
New additions consisting of newly acquired books, bulletins, theses, patents, special issues of advances,
reviews, reports, proceedings, pamphlets, etc. Such publications are brought out at monthly, bimonthly,
quarterly frequencies. For example, PAU, Ludhiana brought out `Monthly Book Sampler" and IARI
Library brought out "Monthly List of Additions".
Library Bulletins and Newsletters
A number of libraries bring out their own timely bulletins and newsletters which contain information like
new acquisitions, addition of new journals, services, database searches, bibliographies compiled,
information on conferences, seminars, meetings, visitors, etc. DESIDOC, ICRISAT, etc. regularly publish
their bulletins/ newsletters to make their users aware of new developments.
News Clipping Service
"Agricultural Press Bulletin" with full text every month and maintains those clippings in bound form for
future reference.
Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI)
SDI service differs from CAS in its meaning and scope. However, both the services are intended to keep
the users informed about the latest information appearing in their area of interests. CAS is provided to a
specific group of users of clientele without any particular enquiry, whereas SDI is meant for an individual
and is restricted exclusively to the area of his interest. The user is served only with that information which
he needs. What is not required by him is not served to him
R.G. Prasher writes that the principle on which SDI is based is that no two users have identical information
needs and as such each one should be provided only that information which he actually needs.
Contrary to CAS, it is an user oriented and individualised service. Having use of computerised databases,
SDI service has become efficient, quick and timely by providing computer based searches.

Definition, Purpose & Scope


The concept of SDI in its present sense was given to the world first by Hans Peter Luhn of IBM Company.
He conceived an information system to find out a document which could serve the information needs of a
particular user so that the user might be informed about the availability of that document. On the basis of
his design, a full-fledged mechanised system was introduced by IBM in 1959 as SDI-1. Later on better
systems like SDI-2, SDI-3 etc. were developed and implemented and today SDI is considered as one of the
most important services of a research library.

The very purpose of SDI service is (i) to provide a personalised current awareness service to a scientist to
keep him informed or make him aware of all the latest information relevant to his interests and (ii) to save
the time of the scientists by screening out irrelevant information from the incoming documents. Thus,
through an SDI service, a scientist gets his most needed information and saves his time without getting lost
into the bewildered world of information.

Planning and Operation of SDI Service


SDI aims to a personalised service to a user and saves his precious time by providing right document
matching to his information needs. Hence, to operate SDI system and to achieve the objectives of SDI, a
profile of users information needs is made. It is done on a card. A questionnaire is designed and required
information is collected through survey method or personal interviews. The information is sought about his
research project, specific information required, key words, subject headings or descriptors (based on some
standard thesaurus like AGRIVOC (FAO), CABI thesaurus etc. Class numbers, pattern of terms, code
numbers etc. are also given on the card in addition to his name address, peer work, key institutes and core
journals in the subject area etc.

Each card bearing the subject interest of an user is known as a PROFILE. The profiles, when organised
in a systematic manner become USERS PROFILES file.

While operating the SDI system, based on users profile, the incoming documents are monitored regularly
and screened to mark the most matching items of information in the profile. The selected information is
compiled and sent to the user along with a feed back form. On the receipt of feed back responses, reactions,
and instructions about the document (relevant or irrelevant) notified, from the recipient users, the Users
profile is modified and kept up-to-date, responsive and lively to their information needs.

Today, the SDI service is computer-based and in electronic form. Lots of databases are available on
magnetic tapes, diskettes and CD-ROMs received in libraries. Searching and matching of very specific
information with the use of computer, the SDI services are provided very promptly to the SDI users.
INSDOC, ICRISAT and many others provide SDI services. IARI, New Delhi has developed campus based
wide an Electronic Information Network having fiber optic backbone, connecting CD-Net system in library
and provide access to the scientists and students to make database searches themselves through the remote
logins.

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