WilsonLink (powered by SFX)—Document Suppliers

Wilson has introduced the WilsonLink service as an option to WilsonWeb customers who want to integrate their entire online collections, even if they don't own a link server. The WilsonLink service is powered by SFX technology and is available at no extra charge to WilsonWeb customers. The Wilson hosted SFX link server will help users find a full text article, even if the full text isn't in a WilsonWeb database. By clicking on the WilsonLink icon from the search results pages, a user will launch an automatic search of all your library's open-URL compliant databases. It will be possible to find the desired full text record wherever that record is located in the library's electronic databases.

In addition, WilsonLink provides extended services, including ERIC searching, an Internet search, and document delivery options. Libraries can also bypass the WilsonLink service by going directly to their own SFX server, or they can choose not to use any SFX technology through WilsonWeb.

Here's how it works

If the library's administrator chooses to enable the WilsonLink service by selecting one of several optional menus available in the Administrative Module, the user of the WilsonWeb database may see a WilsonLink icon next to each record found in the Wilson database, or only next to records without full text and/or for book records. If the presence of a full text record is not indicated next to the search results record by a full text icon, the user can click on the WilsonLink icon to locate a desired full text article. WilsonWeb, at the prompting of the user, goes out through the WilsonLink (SFX powered) server and searches for the full text for that article. WilsonLink can do this because Open URL compatible publishers have all agreed to a standard formula for how to construct the address of any piece of text that they are storing on their servers. The WilsonLink server looks for all the places that have that address and returns links to all of those places with that address. In order to retrieve the full text article, however, the library must be a subscriber to the indicated database.

A supplemental search is also offered for related information from ERIC.

If a full text record is not found within the library's electronic collection, the user may purchase the article from a document retrieval service, if the library has selected Menu #3 in the Administrator's Module. A search of the Internet for the title of the article is also possible and may locate the full text article and/or provide other related information.