New Round of Enhancements for WilsonWeb Database Service

New York, New York, June 22, 2005
H.W. Wilson today announced the debut of WilsonWeb 2.5—the latest upgrade for its robust online reference database service.

"Communication with our customers combined with the insights of librarians and other professionals on the Wilson staff have yielded these new improvements to make the service more convenient for users, while building on the versatility that makes WilsonWeb unique," commented WilsonWeb product manager Bernie Seiler.

WilsonWeb 2.5 improvements include:

A new Interlibrary Loan feature
Users can now automatically populate their library's local ILL form with a record's bibliographic data, by clicking on the new Interlibrary Loan (ILL) icon. Administrators can upload a custom icon, to suit the library.

Automatic export of records to bibliographic management software
WilsonWeb's Print Email Save page now offers a new choice for the direct export of records to two popular software packages: EndNote and RefWorks. Users can format records for most other bibliographic software as well, from the E-Mail and Save Options pages.

Automatic formatting of citations
Users can now format citation records automatically in a simplified form, using two popular standards: MLA (Modern Language Association) and APA (American Psychological Association). Choose the format from dropdown boxes on the Print Email Save page.

Easier-to-use Search History interface
Replicating a saved search is now much easier, with the improved Search History screen. Complete information is saved, including the database in which the search was done. This is the first step in a larger redesign of the Search History screen, including a new SDI (Selective Dissemination of Information) Alert feature that will be available later in 2005.

Table of Contents of Journal Issues
Click the source field in an article citation to retrieve all articles from a journal issue—now conveniently arranged in page order, like a standard table of contents. You can also search specific issues in the Journal Directory, retrieving results in page order.

One-click access to the Journal List
Clicking the Journal Directory button from within WilsonWeb now automatically generates a basic list of the publications covered by the database(s) in use, complete with start and end dates for full text and indexing. From there, users can click on the Journal Directory or New Search tabs, to be taken to the main Journal Directory screen, for a more in-depth search. The basic list will satisfy most users, while the more in-depth display is available so all journal coverage questions are answered.

Searchable Help
A convenient new text entry box lets you search the table of contents, plus the body of the help topics. Searches retrieve results ranked by relevance.

"Behind the scenes" improvements to the software include:

Relaxed thesaurus search rules, for wider results l New Thesaurus search rules increase success in returning relevant results. Even name inversions are recognized.

An enhanced OpenURL targeting algorithm l This enhancement provides a more forgiving matching algorithm, for more accurate linking to WilsonWeb content from your other OpenURL databases.

Cosmetic changes were designed to make WilsonWeb use more intuitive:

New Window for Page Image and Full Text screens l Allows you to keep search results on screen, opening full text of articles and other links in up to two separate popup windows.

More prominent bottom taskbar buttons l Now users can't miss the practical navigation buttons in the bottom taskbar. More depth has been added to make them more "button like," and the bright background draws the eye. The new look of the bottom taskbar makes WilsonWeb use more intuitive.

New "Back to Results" button l The "Cancel" button once on the Print Email Save page now reads "Back to Results." Also, the "Cancel" button on the Customize Display page has been changed to a "Back" button. The new names and functions of the buttons help avoid user confusion.