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New York, New York, December 5, 2006
H.W. Wilson today announced a unique new reference debuting in January--the most wide-ranging and deepest retrospective index of library and information science articles available. Offered exclusively on WilsonWeb, Library Literature & Information Science Retrospective: 1905-1983 marries versatile WilsonWeb searching to nearly 8 decades of in-depth indexing from the classic Wilson reference Library Literature. With coverage of over 1,200 key periodicals--citations to more than 500,000 articles in all--the database catalogs all the innovations, controversies, and people key to the making of modern librarianship. The database will also include full text (HTML plus PDF page images) from some 70 years of Wilson Library Bulletin (the classic trade magazine for librarians, founded 1914), indexing from Library Work (1905-1911), plus citations to book reviews, books, book chapters, and library school theses.

For library science students, educators, and librarians, this is a powerful aid to studies and professional development. Built by librarians, for librarians on the foundation of renowned Wilson indexing, the database is searchable by a wide range of parameters practical for research in library and information science.

Extensive annotations, up to several hundred words, detail the content of articles from a diverse range of periodicals. Thousands of monograph and book review records extend coverage far beyond journals to the whole scope of library and information science literature. Analytic records provide chapter-level access by subject and author to the contents of books, conference proceedings, and essay collections.

Updated subject headings make finding information on technical topics easy. Original subject headings are also retained, for insight into the evolution of methods and technology. Personal names used as subject headings are standardized throughout the years of coverage, to ensure retrieval of all records about an individual or a company.

The database is also strong on international coverage, encompassing library science publishing in Europe, Russia, China, India, Australia, and Latin America. Translated titles plus English language summaries allow users to search articles published in French, Spanish, Russian, German, Hungarian, Danish, Norwegian, Italian, and other languages.

Library Literature & Information Science Retrospective even helps users acquire the actual articles, with WilsonLink SFX-powered technology that can link to full text available in other OpenURL compatible databases; links to the library's OPAC for holdings information; and auto-completion of interlibrary loan forms. Other WilsonWeb options let users automatically create bibliographies from search results and save and email their searches, among many other conveniences of WilsonWeb searching.

Library Literature & Information Science Retrospective will be the newest of eight Wilson retrospective indexes offered on WilsonWeb. Coming later in 2007, Applied Science & Technology Retrospective: 1913-1983 will deliver indexing of seven decades of information from the most important sources in a wide range of applied science specialties (many of them peer-reviewed journals). Citations to more than 1,300,000 articles, including book reviews, will allow users to trace the history of any technology of interest, find articles by history-making researchers and scientists, find criticism of new ideas and technologies when they first appeared, and much more. The Wilson Retrospective Collection also includes Art Index Retrospective: 1929-1984, Book Review Digest Retrospective: 1905-1982, Biography Index: Past and Present, Education Index Retrospective: 1929-1983, Humanities & Social Sciences Retrospective: 1907-1984, Index to Legal Periodicals Retrospective: 1908-1981, and Readers' Guide Retrospective: 1890-1982.

For more information, see Library Literature & Information Science Retrospective: 1905-1983. Free 30-day trials of the database will be available to librarians and members of the press in January 2007.

Contact: 
Roseward Sky
Phone (800) 367-6770, x2272
Email: rsky@hwwilson.com