With its growing popularity came its evolution into a user-led service that more closely resembled the needs of UWE Library users. The first phase of this evolution was the development of the current awareness service. It was, moreover, a service developed to meet the demands of internal users. It grew and evolved at the request of library staff rather than directly from library users. In offering an electronic current awareness service networked to all campuses and incorporating links to publishers' websites, the Library is able to offer its users a service that is superior to its print current awareness bulletins.
Information is freely and easily available to all users.
It is not limited to the academic staff who were recipients of individual subject print bulletins. Dissemination is much faster and a backfile is created and maintained within a single source. As the current awareness service began to grow, the electronic reserve itself began to evolve. Once the research phase concluded, it was possible to expand the service into other faculties and onto other campuses. This led to the service evolving in several directions simultaneously.