CURRENT AWARENESS SERVICE

Dr.S.R. Ranganathan defines CAS as “Documentation periodical 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. It endeavours to keep the clientele informed promptly of all the nascent thought created in their fields of work and related fields."

CAS may be defined as “The establishment of a system for reviewing or scanning publications immediately upon receipt, selecting information pertinent to the needs of the organization served, and recording or notifying individual items of interest to be brought to the attention of those persons to whose work they are related."

In view of the above, CAS is a direct link between the user and the communicator through a communication system or communication devices. This system or device is called the current awareness service.

The dissemination of current information that will keep the research scholars well-informed and up-to-date in their fields of basic interest as well as in related subjects is called Current Awareness Service. It is a system of getting knowledge on recent developments, and especially those developments which relate to the special interests of the individual.

CAS is a device of the information system through which the users of information can be informed promptly, as soon as possible after publications but before absorption into the comprehensive secondary sources of current literature on a broad subject field or on an area in which a group of persons are interested, and presented in a manner, volume, and rhythm intended to facilitate or cultivate a current approach to information.

CAS involves knowledge of:

• New theoretical ideas and hypotheses.
• New problems to be solved.
• New methods and techniques for solving old and new problems
• New circumstances affecting what people do and how they may do it.