Wilson Branches Out

This article reports that by March or April 1991, all of the H. W. Wilson Company databases will become available on the Bibliographic Retrieval Service (BRS) online system. After seven years of exclusivity on WILSONLINE, the Wilson databases are branching out and BRS is only the first extension. Starting in 1986, Wilson offered ways to access electronic versions of its indexes. Many libraries have purchased selected Wilson indexes on CD-ROM to emphasize end-user searching. BRS implementation of the Wilson files is planned in stages throughout 1991. Stage 1 will bring up Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature, Applied Science & Technology Index, Biological & Agricultural Index, Social Sciences Index, General Science Index, and many more. Stage 2 will add Business Periodicals Index and Education Index; and finally Stage 3 includes Book Review Digest, Biography Index, Bibliographic Index, Essay and General Literature Index, and Cumulative Book Index. All files will be up by the end of 1991. Becky Clarke, director of Database Licensing Service at Wilson, says two factors determine these stages: the existing record structure of each database and the ease with which it could be mounted on BRS; and what files are already on BRS and how the various Wilson files fit in.

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