Community Research and Action

Being familiar with the literature published in your field, and staying current in the literature, are important to your growth as a scholar and professional in a field, and will also help in your research.  There are a number of ways to make staying current in your area easy and, in some cases, automatic.

• Take advantage of student rates to professional associations related to your area of study.  Joining a professional organization provides networking opportunities and free or low-cost access to their publications.
   
• Join the organizations e-mail list (and Facebook page, if they have one).  Articles of interest may appear, and in many cases, you will find communication about new developments in the field.
   
• Check the journal website and see if they offer a "table of contents" service.  These services will often email or provide you with a RSS link to provide you with the upcoming Table of Contents for their publication, even if you are not a subscriber.  You can check to see if the Libraries' has access to the journal, or try to obtain select articles through ILLiad.

You  will usually have to create an account in the database to set up these alerts.

• The UDC Library also has a small current collection of print periodicals.    Feel free to stop in and browse the collection.