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Library Journal,
January 2003
Searcher, March 2003
Review from: Library Journal, January 2003, pages 173-174
Wilson has completed a major
overhaul of its web-based products with this new version of WilsonWeb,
with changes ranging from the basic (screen colors and design) to
significant enhancements (e.g., the integration of SFX linking technology,
OPAC links, and multifile searching.)
At the top of the WilsonWeb
screen, users can check off what databases they want to search. Search
options have been moved to the left and are now more visible. Search
options are renamed Basic and Advanced, with Basic being a true Basic
search: a blank line to enter your text. A search can be limited to all
years, past 12 months, or a range of dates.
WilsonWeb
offers searching across all fields; researchers also have a generous
choice of over 25 specific fields to choose from (including Julian date!).
Searches can be limited by date, document type (biography, ballet review,
speech) or physical description (map, bibliography, color). One can also
limit a search to Full Text, Page Image (which should be identified as
PDF), and Peer Reviewed. Results can be sorted by date, relevance, or
customized with 11 criteria (document type, Dewey number, title). And, Or,
and Not are available as pull-downs between the template boxes.
But WilsonWeb really
excels in the power it gives to searchers: 30 different operators. In
addition to the usual Proximity Operators, Concept Operators combine
search terms with the capacity to turn relevance on and off. Relational
Operators search document fields for string searches and allow numeric and
data comparisons. Evidence Operators conduct intelligent word searches
with wildcards, homonyms, and synonyms, while four Score Operators allow
researchers to change relevancy ranking. Natural Language Operators
interpret text with a free-text query parser, searching for similar texts.
Finally, searches can be further customized through Modifiers such as
case-sensitivity. It is hard to imagine a library user wanting to create a
search that WilsonWeb doesn’t support.
The Results Display has been
reworked to include the integration of the linking technology and the
growth of full-text materials available in the Wilson databases. Search
terms are highlighted. The interface makes use of icons for PDF files,
HTML full text, the WilsonLink Menu, image/photo availability,
Biography/Obituary, Peer Reviewed, and Library Owns link. This can
sometimes make the display a bit crowded, and at times it isn’t clear
what article the icons accompany. Wilson also adds a relevancy ranking for
each citation and places that figure over the first icon.
Next and Previous screen
options are a bit hidden at the bottom, and they are only available from
the brief display. Once you pull up a full display or the full text of a
journal, you must use the back button, or your browser’s back button, to
return to the list of citations. Records can be printed and e-mailed
easily, or saved as text, html, .csv and .rtf.
In a review environment, the
linking options could only be tested minimally, but the Wilson test menu
makes it clear that the interest here is in the major options: catalog
check, full-text availability, ILL/document delivery, table of contents
searches, and web searches. Some multi-base searches worked very well,
though it is not possible to see what database the article is from
originally.
The Bottom Line:
Congratulations to Wilson for making a major leap with the release of WilsonWeb.
The search screen is improved, searching is tremendously powerful,
customization options are broader, and linking has been added. Altogether
this makes Wilson a strong player for all libraries that need its
content."
—Ed Tallent, Reference,
Boston College
Review excerpts from: Searcher, March 2003
In existence since 1898, the
H.W. Wilson Company publishes some of the most authoritative and
high-quality resources that a library can purchase. Wilson products are so
ubiquitous that even the most casual library user has probably used a
Wilson product, particularly the "green books"—AKA the Readers'
Guide to Periodical Literature. Having already set a standard for
quality in library-focused publishing, the H.W. Wilson Company announced
in June 2002 the release of a new interface to its WilsonWeb database
product.
The WilsonWeb interface has
indeed undergone a major revision….Could the H.W. Wilson Company have
finally matched its excellent content with an equally excellent end-user
interface? As of December 2002, the new interface went online, giving
WilsonWeb subscribers—and product reviewers—a chance to put the new
WilsonWeb to the test.
So, What's New?
In terms of content, nothing
much has changed with the introduction of the new WilsonWeb interface,
although in January 2003, it did add the retrospective content of Readers'
Guide, with citations all the way back to 1901. The new look of the
interface is the most noticeable feature of the new WilsonWeb, but changes
have also occurred to searching as well as to features used by library
systems administrators.
From the perspective of the
searcher, the major changes are as follows:
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Natural language searches are possible
from the Basic Search screen.
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Searches can be conducted throughout the
full text or articles.
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Search terms are highlighted throughout
search results.
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Each database has its own dedicated
subject thesaurus.
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Search results can be ranked by
relevance.
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Searches are powered by a Verity search
engine.
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Users can save their search history.
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A journal directory is available.
From the administrator's
standpoint, the system has undergone more dramatic changes:
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The system complies with Section 508,
which accommodates disabled users.
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Usage statistics are provided in
compliance with ICOLC standards.
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The user interface and results display
can be customized.
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Administrators can control the levels of
access for particular user groups.
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The system features "WilsonLink SFX-powered
links to OpenURL compliant sources."
First among these
improvements, Wilson should be applauded for designing an interface that
is accessible to disabled users. Next, the addition of standardized and
meaningful usage statistics per ICOLC (International Coalition of Library
Consortia, http://www.library.yale.edu/consortia/)
standards is an essential feature for collection developers everywhere.
These enhanced statistics provide librarians with important data on
journal usage, the number of zero-result searches by users, the number of
full-text articles accessed, and the number of articles accessed by format
(HTML, PDF). Also, the addition of customization and access controls gives
libraries the ability to tailor the WilsonWeb product to particular user
communities and operating environments.
Finally, the addition of the
WilsonLink component marks another step towards the better integration of
a library's suite of subscription database holdings. WilsonLink employs
SFX [http://www.sfxit.com/] software
that creates "seamless links" between other library databases (JSTOR,
ProQuest, EBSCO, Elsevier, etc.) and WilsonWeb holdings. This technology
means that a search that yields an article unavailable in full text
through WilsonWeb can immediately be searched through other databases,
provided that these databases are OpenURL-compliant [http://library.caltech.edu/openurl/].
This linking can also import a user's search to a document delivery
service and to an Internet search engine. The WilsonLink system supports
automatic searches of databases that comply with Z39.50 standard
client/server protocols….
Searching the New WilsonWeb
Searching the new WilsonWeb is
more user-friendly than searching the previous version. In the previous
WilsonWeb "Search," users were only given two search
possibilities when searching the Wilson Biographies Plus database: Words
Anywhere and Subject….
The new WilsonWeb offers users
more advanced search options, along with a third search box in the
Advanced Search screen. In addition, the new WilsonWeb has a much more
sophisticated ranking system than the old WilsonWeb….
At the End of the Day
In the end, the new WilsonWeb
has a better interface and search mechanism than the previous WilsonWeb.
For the most part, the new WilsonWeb is easier for users to navigate, and
the increased use of standardized terminology ("Advanced Search"
instead of "SearchPlus") will help users spend less time
familiarizing themselves with the database when searching….Wilson is on
the cutting edge in some areas—notably with WilsonLink—and the company
continues to produce high quality content.
Hopefully the WilsonWeb
development team is already working on updates, improvements, and
revisions to the new WilsonWeb.
[Publisher’s
Note: the first
round in a series of planned enhancements for WilsonWeb have already been
released. Click here for
details.]
What Is Available via
WilsonWeb?
Here is a sample of products
available through the new WilsonWeb:
The AMICO Library. Over
100,000 art image and media files from member museums in the Art Museum
Image Consortium (AMICO).
Applied Science &
Technology Full Text. Full-text coverage since 1997 and indexing since
1983 of applied science and technology resources. This product features
many peer-reviewed resources.
Book Review Digest Plus.
Commonly known as Book Review Digest, the "Plus" comes
from additional book reviews culled from thousands of periodicals from
other Wilson databases. Coverage since 1983, and the database consists of
over 1 million reviews of over 700,000 books from a broad range of subject
areas.
Children's Catalog. The
online, searchable version of Wilson's print Children's Catalog.
Users can search through over 8,000 entries and retrieve records in MARC
record format. Searching the Children's Catalog allows users to
immediately check each item record against the user's library holdings.
Coverage since 1996.
Current Biography
Illustrated. This database consists of the entire contents of Current
Biography, extending back to 1940 and continuing with 450 profiles
added each year. The more than 25,000 articles are fairly extensive and
are supplemented by over 19,500 images.
Education Full Text.
Content from this database comes from education-related periodicals,
monographs, and yearbooks. The product includes "95 journals not
covered by ERIC's CIJE," with indexing coverage going back to 1983,
the abstracts to 1994, and the full text to 1996.
General Science Full Text.
While scientific information can easily overwhelm students, this database
was designed with students and nonspecialists in mind. Coverage includes
full-text articles since 1995 and indexing since 1984.
Humanities Full Text.
This product is the "most comprehensive resource available in its
field." The database contains broad full text (since 1995) and
indexing (since 1984) coverage of a diverse collection of humanities
publications.
Library Literature &
Information Science Full Text. This standard index in the information
profession covers periodicals, journals, books, theses, and conference
proceedings. The full-text coverage goes back to 1997 with indexing to
1984.
Readers' Guide
Retrospective: 1890-1982. Users can search a century's worth of 523
periodicals (over 3 million citations) in one action. Both original and
contemporary subject headings are featured throughout, as well as the
original "see" and "see also" references.
Wilson OmniFile Full Text,
Mega Edition. This interdisciplinary database features full-text
coverage since 1994, along with abstracts (since 1994) and indexing (since
1982). The content for this database comes from the merger of 11 WilsonWeb
databases.
Wilson OmniFile Full Text,
Select Edition. The Select Edition contains the same full text
coverage (1,600 publications) as found in the Mega Edition. However, the
Select Edition does not contain abstracts or indexing for the many
non-full-text publications available in the Mega Edition.
Wilson Biographies Plus
Illustrated. A growing collection of over 110,000 profiles and over
32,000 images. Profiles are taken from Current Biography, the World
Authors Series, and other Wilson publications. This product is only
available through WilsonWeb.
Wilson Business Full Text.
Full text of 350 publications (since 1995) and abstracting and indexing of
more than 600 publications (since 1982). Content from The New York Times
Business Section, The Wall Street Journal, annual reports, trade journals,
etc.
World Authors. Features
biographies and bibliographies of over 10,000 of the "greatest
writers" since 800 BC Selections taken from the H.W. Wilson World
Author Series, and cover all literary eras, genres, and world regions.
WilsonWeb: History and
Product Information
The H.W. Wilson Company has
offered electronic products since the early 1980s, and its electronic
products have included WilsonLine, WilSearch, WilsonDisc (CD-ROM),
WilsonTape (magnetic tape)—with WilsonWeb becoming the primary Internet
accessible product. The company has over 50 electronic products available
through WilsonWeb and continues to publish actively in the print market.
In addition to marketing its database products directly to libraries,
Wilson licenses many of its products through other major database vendors—namely
through SilverPlatter, OVID, OCLC, ProQuest, EBSCO, Dialog, Sirsi,
LexisNexis, and Westlaw.
Because of Wilson's licensing
efforts, libraries may gain access to Wilson products through several
interfaces, and users may have no idea that Wilson is behind a particular
product. For example, the Syracuse University Libraries subscribe to four
Wilson databases through WilsonWeb (Art Index Retrospective 1929-1984;
Wilson Biographies Plus Illustrated; Middle and Junior High School Library
Catalog; and Readers' Guide Retrospective), while subscribing to even more
Wilson databases through OCLC's FirstSearch interface (Art Abstracts,
Education Abstracts, Humanities Abstracts, Library Literature, Social
Sciences Abstracts, etc.). While some licensed Wilson databases can be
accessed from third-party vendors in their complete form (full text,
abstracts, and indexing), the company limits some third-party licensing to
only a database's abstracts and/or indexing….
Products
As mentioned, libraries can
subscribe to over 50 databases through WilsonWeb, including indexes,
abstracts, full-text products, and standard catalogs. These products cover
a wide range of topics—from Social Sciences Full Text to the Fiction
Catalog and the Biological & Agricultural Index Plus.
Most Wilson indexing extends
back to the early 1980s, with abstracts back to the early 1990s, and
full-text to the mid-1990s. The most notable exception to this range of
coverage is the Readers' Guide Retrospective, which features
coverage from 1890 to 1982. When combined with the Readers' Guide Full
Text, Mega Edition (indexing since 1983, full-text since 1994), users
can conduct searches across a remarkable range of years and topics.
Besides the distinctive Readers'
Guide databases, Wilson offers the "Wilson OmniFile."
The OmniFile is Wilson's version of a large, interdisciplinary
database. It features full text, abstracts, and indexing from the
following Wilson products:
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Applied Science & Technology Full
Text
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Art Full Text
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Biological & Agricultural Index Plus
Education Full Text
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General Science Full Text
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Humanities Full Text
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Index to Legal Periodicals & Books
Full Text
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Library Literature & Information
Science Full Text
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Readers' Guide Full Text
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Social Sciences Full Text
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Wilson Business Full Text
Libraries can choose between
two levels of the OmniFile product: the Full Text Mega Edition and
the Full Text Select—the Mega Edition contains indexing beyond the dates
of full-text coverage. The OmniFile is comparable in scope to other
large, interdisciplinary database products, such as EBSCO's Academic
Search Elite and Gale's Expanded Academic ASAP.
—Reviewed by David M.
Oldenkamp, Syracuse University Library Guest Columnist
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