Library professionals know the Wilson name. Wilson provides a number of resources and materials that are highly recommended and extremely useful. The Wilson OmniFile Full Text Mega edition database is another one of these resources. OmniFile provides access to over 4,000 journals dated back as early as 1982. It covers a variety of subjects as well, including art, science, education, library science, business, etc.
If you have used a Wilson database in the past (e.g. Education Full Text, Library Literature and Information Science Full Text), you know that the interface was neat, clean and easy to navigate. In the last couple of years, Wilson has moved to a frame‐based interface for their products. The frames include the basic navigation on the side with links to the search types, search history, and other features; a top navigation bar that contains first the list of available databases and/or the database currently in use and then basic results information; the main frame with the search boxes and search options and then the results; and finally, the bottom navigation frame with contains the keys used to move from one result to the next, back to the main search screen, etc. As with any framed environment, there are problems. Sometimes one frame is slow to load, so an error occurs. It also causes printing problems, such as if you try to print the results screen. Fortunately, Wilson is working on a frameless interface, but it will not be available until 2008.
Wilson provides several search options: Basic search, Advanced search, and Browse. The basic search provides a single search box that can be used to enter keywords. For example, a user may enter “electronic library collection” into the search box. The results vary but at the time of this writing returned 333 hits containing one or more of the search terms. In the top navigation bar, Wilson provides suggested subjects that can be used to expand your search. For the search above, suggested subjects were “virtual libraries, college and university libraries/automation, college and university libraries/serials publications, OCLC, Inc., internet search engines, and internet/school libraries”. The advanced search provides greater searching options. Three main search boxes are provided, but a user can specify in which field each term should be searched. In addition, there are sorting options and limiting options. For example, when the search above is entered again, only this time with electronic as a subject, library as a title, and collection as a keyword, there are 47 hits. If the user limits the search to only the library and information science subject area, there are 36 hits. Again, subjects are provided to expand each search. The browse function works in the same manner. A user enters the search terms and selects from a drop‐down menu in which area the terms should be searched. These search options are broad categories; title is not one of the options in the browse function – subject(s) is the default field. So, using the same example search as above, the user will receive a list of the available subjects. If the terms entered do not match any in the database, an italicize note will be displayed as to where the search would have been located. From the results list, the user can scroll through to see what areas were found to be similar to the entered terms.
Once the search is conducted, the results are displayed in the main screen beginning with the most current articles. Each result provides linkages for that article. Users can receive the full text of the article through the Full Text HTML and/or Full Text PDF links. If the article is not available via OmniFile, each library can establish a link to their catalogue or to a link resolver. The Print/E‐Mail/Save option is standard Wilson. The way these options are provided can be a little confusing to an end user because of the way they are presented. Once the user finds the results they want, they click the Print/E‐mail/Save button in the left‐hand navigation bar. This opens a new page that forces the user to open the option they want, either printing, e‐mailing, or saving. Once in that section the user then must review the options and make the necessary selections. Fortunately for the user, the OmniFile database populates these options. For example, if the user does not select any of the items on the results page, OmniFile indicates that all of the records on that page will be printed, e‐mailed, or saved. The same is true if one or more of the results are selected. Users can also export their citations into a manager tool such as RefWorks or EndNote by entering the needed information in the options boxes. As with the Print/E‐mail/Save functions, the OmniFile database populates these options. For example, if the user does not select any of the items on the results page, OmniFile indicates that all of the records on that page will be exported. The same is true if one or more of the results are selected. The user then selects the tool to which these results should be exported.
Users can view their most recent searches by using the Search History option. From the Search History screen, a user can select a previously conducted search and receive the results again for further review, run that same search again to get updated results, use the Search Builder frame to create expanded searches using the terms in earlier strategies, save the searches, and finally, create alerts. The first three items are straightforward. To retrieve the previous results, simply click on the link to the results and they will be displayed in the main frame. To perform the search again to receive updated results, simply click on the New Results link to re‐run the same search. Use the drop‐down menus in the top frame to select the action to be conducted and add the available searches into the search box and click submit to conduct the new search. Saving a search and creating alerts are fairly easy as well. To save a search, one must mark the search, enter a name in the Save As Name box, and click the Save Marked button. The user will be prompted to sign in by entering a user ID of 5‐50 characters. Once you have entered this ID, you can save a search. You can also retrieve searches by signing into your profile. To create an alert for a search, journal, etc., a user can select the Create Alerts button in the left‐hand navigation bar. If a user is in the Search History area, they can create an alert for those searches directly from that screen. You must enter the required information and your alert has been established.
There are some additional links in the left‐hand navigation frame that will be useful to users. If there are problems and/or questions about the functions of the database, Wilson has created help pages for each section through the Help link. Furthermore, users can get a listing of the journals that are available in the database through the Journal Directory link and tips on citing the articles retrieved through Citing Sources. Libraries can add customized links in this area as well, such as a link to the library's main page and/or catalogue. One other link in this area could be Important Message. This will appear if there is something about which Wilson needs to inform users such as enhancements being incorporated, maintenance schedules, etc. Finally, there is an option for the user to customize the screen display. Simply click on the Customize Display link in the bottom navigation bar to open the display options. Users can then go through each area and make the changes they want to see. These changes are tied specifically to that session, so when the user leaves, the customizations are lost. The user can also select the Default Settings button to return the display back to the default views.
Although this database is fairly expensive, it does cover a wide range of materials. It would be worth reviewing to determine if it is worthwhile for a collection. Wilson OmniFile Full Text Mega Edition is highly recommended for all libraries.
