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Save Search History

A search history is a search query or sequence of queries that you save to either the ISI Web of Knowledge server or to the hard drive of your computer. There is no limit to the number of search histories you can save.

Save on the ISI Web of Knowledge Server

  1. On the Save Search History page, enter a name (without a file extension) in the History Name field. The name can be a single word or a phrase.

  2. Enter a description in the Description field. (This step is optional.)

  3. See Search History Alerts for information on how to answer the remaining fields.

  4. Click the Save button.

  5. Click Done to complete the process when the Server Save Confirmation page notifies you that your search history is saved.

Note ISI Web of Knowledge knows automatically what product the search history belongs to and the number of queries the history contains.

Search History Alerts / Modify History Settings

If your organization subscribes to the alerting service, you can save a search history as an alert. The alert automatically searches the latest update to the database, and then sends all relevant results to you by e-mail. For example, if your search history is on Nanotechnology, the system will send you all new articles on this topic.

Note Alerting is not available for searches from the All Databases tab in ISI Web of Knowledge.

  1. Select the Send Me E-mail Alerts check box.

  2. Enter an e-mail address in the Send to e-mail address field. Use a comma (,) and a space to separate multiple addresses.

  3. Select an Alert type (some alert types may not be available for certain products):

    Notify Only

    Notification that this week's results are available. If results are available, log onto ISI Web of Knowledge and then open and run the search history. Be aware that the number of results reported in the e-mail may not be the same as the number of results you get when you perform the search because you may have selected different database limits or a different timespan before running the alert.
    Biblio Bibliographic information includes author names, article titles, source information, document type, language, Thomson Reuters Document Solution® number, and ISSN/ISBN. This is the default setting.
    Biblio + Abstract Bibliographic information and author abstract.
    Full Record Bibliographic information, author abstract, keywords, address information, and publisher information.

  4. Select an E-mail format (some formats may not be available for certain products):

    Plain Text

    ASCII text file.
    HTML Hypertext Markup Language. This format is suitable for display by a Web browser.
    ISI ResearchSoft

    A field-delimited format that can be imported directly into a database created in Reference Manager, ProCite, or EndNote.

    Note ISI ResearchSoft is the same format as Field Tagged.

    Field Tagged

    A field-delimited format suitable for use with citation management software such as:

    • ProCite®
    • EndNote®
    • Reference Manager®

    Note If you use one of these Thomson Reuters products, then we recommend that you select the Field Tagged format to simplify the import process.

  5. Select a frequency option.

    6. Daily

    Select this option to receive an email if the search retrieves records added since the previous day's update.

    Only available for Current Contents Connect.
    Weekly Select this option to receive an email once a week. The e-mail will notify you of records that have been added since the date of the previous e-mail.
    Monthly

    Select this option to receive an email once a month. The e-mail will notify you of records that have been added since the date of the previous e-mail.

    Each Update

    You will receive an e-mail each time the database is updated.

    Only available for Derwent Innovations Index.

    Every 4 Updates

    You will receive an e-mail after every fourth update.

    Only available for Derwent Innovations Index.

    Note The options available to you depend on which database is searched. For example, the options available for Web of Science are Weekly and Monthly. For Derwent Innovations Index, the options are Each Update and Every 4 Updates.

    Note If you change the frequency option after the alert has been activated:

    • You may receive duplicate alerts if you elect to receive alerts less frequently (for example, change from weekly to monthly).

    • You may miss alerts if you elect to receive alerts more frequently. For example, if you change from monthly to weekly, the first weekly alert you receive may not contain all relevant records since the last monthly alert was sent to you. This gap only occurs once. After you start receiving weekly alerts, you will not miss any relevant records.

  6. Click Save.

    Note If you see the error message, "The limit for the number of alerts has been reached," your institution has not purchased any alerts, or you have reached the maximum number of alerts purchased. Contact your System Administrator about your interest in setting up an alert.

Updating Search History Alerts

You can change alert settings at any time by going to the Search History page.

  1. Click the My Saved Searches link at the top of any ISI Web of Knowledge page.

  2. From the Open / Manage Saved Searches page, select a product database from the Display Histories From list, and then press Go.

  3. Find the alert you want to update, and then click Settings under Modify Settings.

  4. From the Saved Histories page, make the necessary changes, and then click Save.

Remember, if you set a search limit before creating an alert (that is, select a particular edition of Current Contents), that limit will apply whenever the alert is run. However, it doesn't matter what timespan is in effect when you create the alert. Alerts are always run against the latest update.

Only the results of the last search statement in a strategy (typically a set combination search) are included in the alert. For example, for the alert below, the results of set 3 would be e-mailed to the subscriber. The results of sets 1 and 2 would not be included in the alert.

Set
Search History
#3 #1 AND #2
#2 AD=(GERMANY OR POLAND)
#1 TS=(WATER SAME (COPPER OR CADMIUM))

Save Search History on Your Workstation

  1. Click the Save button to open a dialog box.

  2. Click the Save button on the dialog box.

  3. In the Save As dialog box, navigate to the folder where you want to store your search history.

  4. You will see the default file name (for example, history.wos) in the File name field. You can rename the file, but do not change the extension (for example, supernova.wos).

  5. Click Save.

Search History File Extensions

Remember, the default file name is always history (for example, history.ccc). You can rename the file, but do not change the extension (for example, supernova.ccc).

Product File extension
All Databases .ua
Web of Science .wos
Current Contents Connect .ccc
Derwent Innovations Index .diidw
Biological Abstracts .bioabs
BIOSIS Previews .biosis
CABI .cabi
Food and Science Technology Abstracts .fsta
Inspec .inspec
MEDLINE .medline
Zoological Record .zoorec

Reminder - Register and Sign In

To save a search history to our server, you must be a registered user and you must sign in.

About Search History Alerts

  • You will not receive an e-mail if the search does not retrieve any records added since the last alert.

  • E-mails are generally sent each week on Friday morning (US Eastern Standard Time).

  • There may be a limit to the number of alerts you can create. Contact your site administrator for more information.

  • E-mailed results are limited to 300 records. If the e-mail says that there are 300 new records, you should run the strategy manually to be sure to find any new records over and above the 300 limit.

  • Your alert will be deleted after 24 weeks. You will be notified twice via e-mail in the weeks prior to the expiration date reminding you to renew your alert for another 24 weeks.