How do I create and use email alerts?

1. On the ‘Search results’ page, click ‘Create alert’ in the query bar above the results list. The ‘Create alert’ pop-up window opens.
2. Enter a name for your alert.

   • The name can contain a maximum of 500 characters.

     • Spaces and underscores (up to the 500-character maximum) are permitted in the name.
3. For accounts configured for email recipients, enter a maximum of 50 email addresses for people you want to share this alert.
4. Select the checkbox if you want to restrict your alert to recent publications.

   • Refer to the ‘recently published’ definition in the ‘Limit email alert to recently published documents’ sub-section of the ‘View, modify, or delete alerts’ section of this FAQ for further information.
5. Select whether you want to receive your alert weekly or every four weeks.

   • Your initial alert will contain results from the previous week if you select ‘Weekly.’
   • Your initial alert will contain results from the previous four weeks if you select ‘Every 4 weeks.’
6. For accounts that are configured for downloaded output alerts, do the following:

   • Select one of the 10 outputs from the drop-down menu.

     • If you select ‘PDF’ as an output type, you may also choose to add a cover page for the PDF.
   • Select one of the three formats for your output (Abstract, Citation, or Detailed).

     • If you selected ‘Email only’ as an output type, ‘Citation’ is the only format available.
     • If you selected ‘PDF’ as an output type, ‘Abstract’ is the only format available.
7. If your account is not configured for downloaded output alerts, you will receive an email alert with no option to download output.
8. Click ‘Create alert.’ An alert creation notification opens at the top of the page.

   • You may click the link in this pop-up window to view and modify your alerts on the ‘Alerts and Saved searches’ page.
9. Additionally, to see and work with your alert, select ‘Alerts’ from the Engineering Village navigation bar. The ‘Alerts and Saved searches’ page opens.

1. Click ‘Search history’ in the Engineering Village navigation bar. The ‘Recent results’ pop-up window opens.
2. Click ‘View all results.’ The ‘Search history on Engineering Village’ page opens.
3. If you have more than one search query listed, locate the row containing the search you want to create an email alert.
4. From the ‘Alert’ column, select the checkbox following the search query for which you want to create an email alert. The ‘Create alert’ pop-up window opens.
5. Enter a name for your alert.

   • The name can contain a maximum of 500 characters.
6. For accounts configured for email recipients, enter a maximum of 50 email addresses for people you want to share this alert.
7. Select the checkbox if you want to restrict your alert to recent publications.

   • Refer to the ‘recently published’ definition in the ‘Limit email alert to recently published documents’ sub-section of the ‘View, modify, or delete alerts’ section of this FAQ for further information.
8. Select whether you want to receive your alert weekly or every four weeks.

   • Your initial alert will contain results from the previous week if you select ‘Weekly.’
   • Your initial alert will contain results from the previous four weeks if you select ‘Every 4 weeks.’
9. For accounts which are configured for downloaded output alerts, do the following:

   • Select one of the 10 outputs from the drop-down menu.

     • If you select ‘PDF’ as an output type, you may also select to add a cover page for the PDF.
   • Select one of the three formats for your output (Abstract, Citation, or Detailed).

     • If you selected ‘Email only’ as an output type, ‘Citation’ is the only format available.
     • If you selected ‘PDF’ as an output type, ‘Abstract’ is the only format available.
10. If your account is not configured for downloaded output alerts, you will receive an email alert only with no option to download output.
11. Select ‘Create alert.’ An alert creation notification opens at the top of the page.

    • You may click the link in this pop-up window to view and modify your alerts on the ‘Alerts and Saved searches’ page.

1. Click the user profile menu icon at the top right side of the page. The user profile menu opens.
2. Click ‘Alerts & saved searches.’ The ‘Alerts and Saved searches’ page opens.
3. From the ‘Active’ column, select the checkbox for the saved search for which you want to enable the creation of an alert. The ‘Enable alert’ pop-up window opens.
4. Click ‘Enable alert.’ The blue-filled checkbox will signify that your saved search has been transformed into an active email alert.

• Name of alert
• Search query details

  • type of search (Quick, Expert, Thesaurus, Combined)
  • autostemming (on or off)
  • sort type
  • publication year(s)
  • database(s)
  • date that the email alert was originally created (or search query was originally saved if alert was modified from a saved search)
• Active status (alert or saved search)
• Recently published restriction (on, off)
• Frequency (weekly, every four weeks)
• Recipients of the alert (if your account is configured for sending to additional email recipients)
• Alert output (if your account is configured for downloaded output)
• Actions (edit, delete, or share individual search queries)

In the ‘Search query’ column, click the linked search you want to rerun. The Search results page displays the results of your search.

1. From the ‘Active’ column, select the checkbox for any search query you want to disable as an alert but retain as a saved search. The ‘Disable alert’ pop-up window opens.
2. Click ‘Disable alert.’ The checkbox will be cleared to indicate that the alert has been disabled and is no longer active.

Currently, email alerts contain all documents loaded into Engineering Village since the previous week. Therefore, if Engineering Village obtains a new title or extends backfile content for an existing title, all this content will be included in the weekly (or every four weeks) email alert regardless of the publication date.

You can limit the documents contained in your alert to recently published documents. Recently published documents have been published in the current year.

• If desired, select the checkbox for any email alert you want to return to receiving an email alert that contains all updates. The checkbox is cleared to signify that this feature has been disabled for this alert.

You can choose whether to receive your alerts weekly or every four weeks when creating an email alert. The ‘Frequency’ column displays the schedule that you selected when you created your alert. You may change the frequency of your alerts from the ‘Alerts and Saved searches’ page.

1. From the ‘Actions’ column, click the pencil icon for any email alert you want to change the frequency. The ‘Edit alert’ pop-up window opens.
2. Select ‘Weekly’ or ‘Every 4 weeks.’
3. Click ‘Save alert.’ The ‘Frequency’ column is updated with your selected frequency schedule.

Email alerts are disabled after six months of Engineering Village account inactivity, so you must sign into your account at least once every six months to continue receiving them. 

1. From the ‘Actions’ column, click the pencil icon for any email alert you want to add other recipient(s). The ‘Edit alert’ pop-up window opens.
2. Under the ‘Enter additional email recipients’ label, enter a maximum of 50 email addresses for whom you would like to add to the distribution of this alert. Insert a comma or semicolon between each email address.
3. Click ‘Save alert.’ The ‘Additional recipients’ column is updated with the email address(es) you entered.

From the ‘Alert output’ column, you can download the alert results in the output format you requested when you created the alert.

Immediately after you create an alert, the ‘No results’ label displays in the ‘Alert output’ column. After the weekly (or every four weeks) alert runs, the ‘Download’ link displays in the ‘Alert output’ column.

• If you selected the ‘Email only’ output format when you created the alert, there will be no ‘Download’ link in this column.

1. From the ‘Actions’ column, click the pencil icon for any email alert in which you want to change a certain feature. The ‘Edit alert’ pop-up window opens.
2. From the ‘Edit alert’ window, modify the feature (e.g., alert name, output, format, etc.) that you want to change.
3. Click ‘Save alert.’ The feature that you changed has been modified.

• Click ‘Confirm’ to delete the alert. The alert is deleted from the ‘Alerts and Saved searches’ page.
• Click ‘Cancel’ to stop the deletion request and to keep the alert.

1. From the ‘Actions’ column, click the share icon of the email alert that you want to share. The ‘Share recent search results for (search query name)’ window opens.
2. On the ‘Share with:’ line, enter a maximum of 50 email addresses to whom you want to share the email alert. Insert a comma between each email address.
3. The ‘Subject’ line will be populated with the following text ‘Recent Engineering Village search results for (search query name).’

   • You may edit this subject line if you prefer different text.
4. Enter text for the ‘Message’ if desired.
5. Click ‘Send Email’ to share the email alert.

1. From the ‘Actions’ column, click the pencil icon of the email alert for which you want to remove recipient(s). The ‘Edit alert’ pop-up window opens.
2. Under the ‘Enter additional email recipients’ label, remove any email addresses that you want to be removed from the distribution of the alert.
3. Click ‘Save alert.’ The email addresses are removed from the ‘Additional recipients’ column.

Several options for managing email alerts are available as links within the weekly (or every four weeks) email alert notes. Managing the email alert notes is accomplished within the email note, and not within the Engineering Village platform.

From the body of the email alert note, you may perform the following actions:

1. Click the search query link or ‘View All’ to open the weekly (or every four weeks) update retrieval set.
2. If you created an alert that has a download output format, click ‘Download’ to download the alert in the output format you requested when you created the alert.

   • The expiration date for the ‘Download’ link is listed in parentheses after the link.
   • A pop-up window opens that instructs the user to click the download link if the download does not automatically start.
   • The results are downloaded to your computer.
3. Click ‘Manage Alerts’ to open the ‘Alerts and Saved searches’ page to review and modify your alerts.

• Alternately, you may click ‘Manage Alerts’ near the top of the note to open the ‘Manage Alerts and Saved Searches’ page to disable your alert.