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The first step is to decide what topic or topics you'd like more information on. It generally works best to set up Google alerts for no more than three topics. Anything more could overwhelm you with too much information and too many emails. For purposes of this how-to, these instructions will focus on one Google alert for "radio narrow banding."
1. Visit http://www.google.com/alerts
2. Type in the Search terms box, radio narrow band (using the shorter version of "banding" is recommended to maximize the information you receive on this topic)
3. Click the drop down arrow next to Type and determine whether you'd like a comprehensive alert (basically everything online), news sites, blog sites. etc. Blog sites are your best chance of hearing directly from other firefighters on your issue
4. Click on the drop down arrow next to How often and chose the frequency of your email updates
5. Select your preference on volume in the drop down arrow next to Email length
6. Type in the email address you would like to receive the alerts at in the box next to Your email
7. Click on the box Create Alert
8. Repeat the process for any additional topics you'd like to add
There will be a link at the bottom of each email you receive from Google that allows you to remove alerts that are no longer relevant to you, create another alert or manage your alerts.
What topics are most helpful for your Google Alerts? What other tools do you use for research? Share your ideas below. Make it a great week!
