Most of our databases allow you to set up search alerts, so that you'll automatically be alerted when new articles are published which match your search, or when a new issue of a key journal is published.
You can usually set up such alerts by email or RSS feed, such as this example from Historical Abstracts.
There are many free tools available which enable you to create professional-looking 'visuals' to help convey your research, such as infographics, flowcharts, timelines and context-sensitive explanation.
A selection of the apps recommended at a recent Apps Swap in the Library. More information can be found here.