- Blackwell Publishing Revamps Online Delivery Platform -
January 12th, 2007 - Blackwell Publishing, the world's leading society publisher, announced its newly redesigned online delivery platform, Blackwell Synergy, went live today: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com
Blackwell Synergy enables its users to search 1 million articles from over 850 leading scholarly journals across the sciences, social sciences, humanities and medicine. The redesign provides easier navigation, faster loading times and improved access to tools for researchers, as well as meeting the latest accessibility standards (ADA section 508 and W3C's WAI-AA).
"The new Synergy is clearer, easier, and faster. I really like the new look" said Odile Viseux, Institut National de Recherche Agronomique, France.
The new Blackwell Synergy website retains all the essential benefits that researchers, librarians and authors value and uses the same URL structure. In addition to a new look and feel, features have been repositioned to highlight options more clearly to users and enable them to make best use of the suite of tools available such as most read and most cited articles, citation alerts, download to reference manager software, and the ability to email the article to a friend. Full-text online access to the journals on Blackwell Synergy is available at thousands of institutions worldwide.
"Because Blackwell Synergy hosts such high quality and fast-moving research, it is important that access to that information is as quick and seamless as possible," said Philippa Scoones, Web Publishing Director, Blackwell Publishing. "The improvements to the site were based on user recommendations and were designed to make the research process more efficient."
Key site features for researchers include:
- clear search and browse functions and ability to search within other databases
- abstracts and sample issues free to all users
- many articles also free after a certain time or as open access through the OnlineOpen initiative
- articles available in PDF and full-text HTML
- HTML articles include embedded references, figures and tables
- OnlineEarly and OnlineAccepted articles available online before issue publication
- quick links to the most-downloaded and most-cited articles by journal
- reference links and citing article links allow users to follow the research
- export citations of articles directly into reference management software
- receive e-alerts for tables of contents, topic and author research alerts, citation alerts and OnlineEarly and OnlineAccepted alerts
- all e-alerts available as email or RSS newsfeeds
- personalization features including favorite journals and articles, your e-alert settings and more are displayed on your My Synergy page
- link to the journal home page to submit an article or find out more
- Note for E-Journal Library Administrators -
Please note that we are aware of some initial bugs which have emerged since the site went live and which will be resolved as soon as possible. These include an error for users going directly to journals from link resolvers and an error in the 'Show Subscribed Journals' dropdown menu. We do apologize for the inconvenience caused by these bugs and are working to fix them quickly. To overcome the problem with the Subscribed Journals listing straight away, you may wish to change your setting to 'Show All Journals (A-Z)'.
As this is simply a new design you do not need to make any changes to your links or OPACs. Access rights and existing links are unaffected by the change. Library logos, where you have uploaded them to the site, will continue to display on every page. However, with the new site design you may wish to resize your library logo to ensure that it continues to look its best. The optimum size for institutional logos on the site is 256 x 35 pixels. To upload your logo, either in .jpg or .gif file format, please log in to the Synergy Administrator Homepage and click on the link which says 'Upload your Library's Logo'.
For help with administering your institution's access, please contact your usual Blackwell Publishing Account Manager or Sales Coordinator, or email [log in to unmask]
Key features for librarians include COUNTER-compliant usage data, IP and Athens access, OpenURL linking, MARC21 records and Z39.50 compliancy.
To see a list of the features of Blackwell Synergy and to view an online demo, visit: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/librarians/journal_information.asp
- About Blackwell Synergy -
The first version of Blackwell Synergy went live in 1999 hosting Blackwell Science's STM journals. In 2002 the site was relaunched with a new design and in 2003 the STM journals were joined by social science and humanities titles following the merger of Blackwell Science and Blackwell Publishers. The journals program has continued to grow with 49 titles added for 2007. Blackwell Synergy is powered by Atypon's e-publishing software platform, Literatum (http://www.atypon.com). Blackwell Publishing worked with web design agency DesignUK (http://www.designuk.com) to provide the fresh new look for the site after working together on the redesign of BlackwellPublishing.com early in 2006.
The new design has been developed with feedback from researchers and librarians who have provided input during the development and testing phases. Please fill in the Feedback form on the Blackwell Synergy website to let us know what you think: http://www.blackwell-synergy.com
- About Blackwell Publishing -
Blackwell Publishing is the world's leading publisher for societies, partnering with 665 academic and professional societies. Blackwell publishes over 800 journals and, to date has published more than 6,000 books, across a wide range of academic, medical, and professional subjects. The company has more than 1000 staff members in offices in the US, UK, Australia, China, Denmark, Singapore, Germany, and Japan. Blackwell's mission as an expert publisher is to create long-term partnerships with clients to enhance learning, disseminate research, and improve the quality of professional practice. It is in the process of merging with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.'s Scientific, Technical, and Medical business. The acquisition by Wiley should be completed in early February. For more information about Blackwell Publishing, please visit http://www.blackwellpublishing.com or http://www.blackwell-synergy.com
- Media Contacts -
Emily Gillingham
Blackwell Publishing, Oxford
Tel: +44 (0)1865 476425
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Judith Mendoza
Blackwell Publishing, Boston
Tel: 1-781-388-8334
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Alina Boey
Blackwell Publishing, Melbourne
Tel: +61 3 8359 1046
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