University of Minnesota
HAVE A QUESTION? ASK US!

Email | Chat | Phone | FAQ

Current Contents Database to be Replaced
  • Setting up an alert on Web of Science


Libraries Hours


Home   |   Catalogs   |   Indexes   |   E-Journals   |   Subjects   |   Services   |   About Us   |   myLibrary

Setting up an alert on Web of Science

These instructions will help you migrate your Current Contents alert from the Ovid interface to ISI's Web of Science.

  1. Connect to Current Contents.
  2. Click Saved Searches/Alerts in the top right corner. Check the box next to the desired alert name, and click the Run button.
  3. Click the Display link to view your search results.
  4. In the Results Manager section at the bottom of the page, save your search (Make sure to check the box next to Include Search History).
  5. Open the search in a word processor; under Edit, choose Replace. In the Find box, type in $; in the Replace box, type *; click Replace All. This will replace the Ovid truncation symbol, $, with the ISI truncation symbol * ($ has a different meaning in Web of Science).
  6. Connect to Web of Science.
  7. Select the desired database(s) and span of years to search. Choose the appropriate type of search (For subject, author, or journal name, the General Search option is best. If you are working with search sets you will need to use the Advanced Search (Note the options for combining searches). Copy and paste search statements from your word processing file into the appropriate fields (Be sure to be aware of differences in author and set protocols and revise search statements as necessary). Note the options for refining searches by language and document type on the Advanced Search page.
  8. Click the Search History button at the top. Check the desired set name and click the Save History button on the right.
  9. Register for an ISI account if you have not already done so.
  10. Fill out the Save Search History form as directed. Check the box next to Send Me E-mail Alerts. Then click the Save to Server button (Note that it is only saved for 6 months at a time and needs to be renewed to extend the time frame). If you want another person to make changes and then upload them to your account, they can save them to a local drive as a file, send you the file as an attachment, and you then open the saved search from your workstation in WOS and save it in your ISI account.