SilverPlatter Search Software for the Windows Environment Moves into Beta
Testing

WinSPIRS, SilverPlatter Information Retrieval System software for the
Windows environment, entered beta testing at selected customer sites
worldwide in early November.

The development of WinSPIRS was the culmination of a 1-1/2 year project by
SilverPlatter's Interface Design Group--a team of designers, librarians,
information professionals and computer engineers. SilverPlatter saw that
the Graphical User Interface of the Windows environment was a solution to
the struggle of presenting sophisticated searching features in a clear,
easy-to-understand way. SilverPlatter also recognized that Windows had
started a shift in computer operating environments - it was taking hold
and slowly gaining on MS-DOS.

The introduction of CD-ROM in the mid eighties caused a change in the
management of electronic searching. Librarians, who up to this point, were
the intermediary searchers of electronic information, now had to focus
their attention on training inexperienced users how to search. This has
been an inexhaustible task. As CD-ROM's popularity grew, so did the
numbers of users and the diversity of their searching needs. As a result,
the requests for enhancements to CD-ROM search and retrieval software were
as diverse as the searching needs. While experienced users requested
features that would allow them to navigate through databases to find
exactly the information they needed, those not as familiar with CD-ROM
wanted it simplified. The problem has been how to present features
simplistically while not diluting any of their power.

Almost in parallel, a trend in computing operating environments was
emerging. Although Microsoft Corp. first introduced Windows in 1984, it
wasn't until the release of Windows Version 3.0 in 1990, that this new
computing environment gained acceptance. That year, Microsoft sold 3
million copies of Windows Version 3.0. By early 1993, the number was up to
more than 20 million. Microsoft continues to do well with Windows, selling
1.5 million copies per month. It is evident that Windows is now the
preferred operating environment. The majority of PC compatible machines
being sold are shipped with Windows already installed. This year, sales of
Windows applications is expected to surpass MS-DOS applications. According
to Microsoft Corp., the number one reason for the popularity of Windows is
its ease of use which translates into more productive computer time.

The prevalence of the Windows technology coupled with the needs that arose
from the change in information management led SilverPlatter to develop
SPIRS for the Windows environment.

WinSPIRS - A new clarity in search interfaces and a more powerful search
engine

WinSPIRS surpasses PC-SPIRS in functionality. WinSPIRS not only carries
over all the benefits offered by PC-SPIRS, but it also offers additional
features to help novice users understand and use sophisticated search
capabilities. Naturally, WinSPIRS takes advantage of the graphical nature
of the Windows environment. It offers pull down menus, intuitive screens,
dialog boxes, and point and click functionality - all in clear,
uncluttered screens. With this clarity, users can easily proceed from
entering simple search statements to Using more advanced features, such as
the selection of controlled vocabulary for greater searching precision.

Clear and easy

The clarity of the interface, the way in which all the search features are
presented, is the most apparent advantage with WinSPIRS. The Main Screen
clearly directs the user to enter the search statement, displays the
search history and immediately presents the search results. Users view
records immediately without additional keystrokes. Most retrieval systems
use multiple screens for these functions. Each time a new screen is
introduced it increases the odds that the user will loose track of the
search path. Combining these activities on a single screen makes it more
clear to the user where they are in the search process and also requires
fewer steps to see the results.

Access to the Index and Thesaurus is obvious through both highly visible
buttons on the Main Screen and pull-down menus. Because of these and other
intuitive features of WinSPIRS, such as dialog boxes, users are
immediately more aware of how to use the software, so training of end
users is made significantly easier. More time can be spent training users
on effective searching rather than on understanding the retrieval
software.

Records are also easier to view. Using the scroll bars, users can quickly
browse up and down the retrieved records. The records display window can
be expanded to full screen size, the font type can be changed, and the
font size can be increased or decreased. Using these options and with a
large screen monitor, as many as thirty records can be displayed on a
single screen. To mark records, users simply point and click on the
records they want. A large check mark appears to clearly indicate that the
record is marked.

The Help menu, accessible at any point in the search process, lists four
help contexts: the SPIRS Help Index, How to Search, SPIRS basics, and Help
on Help.

New search tools for more accurate and comprehensive searching

WinSPIRS also offers new search features that help users conduct more
successful searches.

Automatic Subject Lookup 

Automatic Subject Lookup (ASL) takes the user's natural language term and
maps it to the controlled vocabulary of the database to find related, and
often more precise, terms. This list of terms is then presented to the
user for searching. For example, the natural language term "kidney stones"
yields 18 hits when searching the current MEDLINE disc. Using ASL, this
phrase is mapped to the MeSH field, and a list of more relevant terms,
such as "kidney calculi", are presented to the user. When searching
"kidney calculi" 116 records are found. With ASL, searchers unfamiliar
with a database's controlled vocabulary are automatically presented
vocabulary options for more accurate searching.

Multidatabase Searching 

For more comprehensive searches, WinSPIRS offers multidatabase searching.
Users can select more than one database, such as PsycLlT and ERIC, and
execute a search across all selected databases in a single step. Users
still have access to the different indexes of the selected databases.

Enhanced Searching Features

Users enter the Thesaurus by simply clicking on a button on the Main
Screen. In the Thesaurus, users can select multiple terms and post them to
a list for future execution in a single step. When a term is selected from
the Permuted list, WinSPIRS automatically opens a window for subheading
selection, saving the user an additional step. Users can then select the
appropriate subhead(s) to apply to the search by simply pointing and
clicking.

The Thesaurus also includes a "term information" button for easy reference
to further information about the thesaurus term. It displays information
such as scope notes and term definitions.

The Index function has been enhanced to include field-specific indexes.
This new feature offers the option of looking at terms found in a specific
field, rather than every field in the database. When the user accesses the
Index, a window of available Indexes is presented, free-text as well as
field-specific. If works by a particular author need to be located, the
user can look in the Index for the author field. For example, browsing the
author Index of the PsycLIT database for the name "Abbott" shows only the
occurrences of "Abbott" in the author field. It excludes the occurrences
of the name in reference to "Abbott Labs", "Abbott Turner School of
Business", "Abbott Northwestern Hospital" and other entries from other
fields.

Additionally, the Index function now allows users to browse records
associated with their index term before executing the index term as part
of their search.

A word about hardware upgrades

It is important to remember that as the trend in the computer industry
moves quickly towards the Windows operating environment hardware upgrades
are inevitable. The pace of technological change is at such a rate that
computers have an average life cycle of three to five years.

There are technical advantages of the Windows platform which will allow us
to continue to make more advanced retrieval features available for our
WinSPIRS users that we may not be able to incorporate into PC-SPIRS. We
anticipate that the ease of use and power of WinSPIRS will make this new
platform succeed PC-SPIRS in popularity for the MS-DOS environment.

Moving to a new operating environment and a new software package can be a
major concern for training end-users. However, because the features of
WinSPIRS are obvious to users, time spent training is reduced. You'll find
users are able to conduct productive searches with little to no
instruction.

We encourage our users to upgrade as soon as their budgets allow to keep up
with the advances that SilverPlatter has to offer, as well as those new
software and library applications being introduced to the market by other
vendors.

SilverPlatter does recognize that all CD-ROM sites cannot upgrade
immediately to run Windows applications. So, we do plan to maintain
PC-SPIRS for our DOS users.

Free WinSPIRS Demo Disk

Preview WinSPIRS with SilverPlatter's free demo disk. The disk guides you
through the major features of WinSPIRS and illustrates its power and
ease-of-use. You can choose to have the demonstration run automatically,
or you can select from a menu specific features to be demonstrated.

To get your free copy of the WinSPIRS demo disk, contact a Sales
Representative at any of the SilverPlatter offices, or contact your local
distributor.

SilverPlatter Information, Inc. 
100 River Ridge Dr, Norwood, MA 02062-5026
1-800-343-0064 (U.S. and Canada) or 1-617-769-2599 
Fax: 1-617-769-8763

SilverPlatter Information Ltd.
10 Barley Mow Passage
Chiswick London W4 4PH U.K.
Tel: +44(0) 81-995-8242 or 0800-262-096
Fax: +44(0) 81-995-5159

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