AMICO and H.W. Wilson Press Release

August 8, 2001
New York, NY and Pittsburgh, PA

The H.W. Wilson Company, publisher of such art reference databases as Art Full Text, Art Index, and Art Index Retrospective, and the Art Museum Image Consortium (AMICO) have agreed to a distribution relationship making The AMICO LibraryTM available via WilsonWeb beginning in Fall 2001.

The AMICO Library, an online resource of art images and related multimedia gathered from AMICO member museums, provides educational institutions with images and other related information to support learning in art history, the humanities, studio art and design, and other subjects. ñThe AMICO Library fits naturally into WilsonÍs existing assortment of art and biography reference materials, and its visual quality, impressive array of content, and member sources provide a resource that should appeal to a great deal of our existing users,î stated Deborah Loeding, H.W. Wilson Vice President, Sales & Marketing.

Documentation and images of a range of art, such as paintings, sculpture, prints, photographs, illustrations, arms and armor, costumes and jewelry, decorative arts, textiles, and other works, comprise the contents of this online resource. Works in The AMICO Library span the length of artistic creation, from 3000 B.C. to the late 20th century, and represent a broad cross-section of cultures from Asia, Europe, the Americas, and Africa.

Each work in The AMICO Library features at least one high-resolution digital image, and a full description. More than simply an image database, The AMICO Library may also include curatorial text, provenance information, details or multiple views of the work, and other related multimedia, like sound and video. All works in The AMICO Library are rights-cleared for educational use. An agreement with Artists Rights Society (http://www.arsny.com) facilitates the inclusion of works created by ARS-represented artists major figures from the 20th century like Picasso, Pollock, Kandinsky, and Rothko. This makes the modern and contemporary content in The AMICO Library an unparalleled resource.

ñOur goal is to integrate art and cultural resources into as many on-line environments as possible. The relationship between AMICO and H.W. Wilson enables us to connect to an entirely new user community. Broadening our reach and scope drives AMICO MembersÍ enthusiasm and participation,î comments Jennifer Trant, Executive Director of AMICO. Ms. Trant adds, ñWilsonÍs plans to integrate The AMICO Library with other Wilson resources will help us meet our mission of enabling educational use of museum multimedia, across the curriculum.î

The initial delivery of The AMICO Library will be as an additional database in WilsonÍs WilsonWeb offerings. Greater integration of The AMICO Library with other Wilson research databases through hyperlinks to related content or appropriate bibliographic citations is currently in development and Wilson anticipates an enhanced release in 2002.

About AMICO
The Art Museum Image Consortium (AMICO) is an independent non-profit corporation with 501 (c) 3 designation from the IRS. Founded in 1997 with 23 Members, the Consortium today is made up of over 30 major museums in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. ItÍs an innovative collaboration not seen before in museums that shares, shapes, and standardizes digital information regarding museum collections and enables its educational use. Membership is open to any institution with a collection of art.

AMICO Members make annual contributions of multimedia documentation of works in their museumsÍ collections. This data is compiled by AMICO and made available as The AMICO Library to universities, colleges, schools, and public libraries via distributors. Potential subscribers may preview a Thumbnail Catalog of The AMICO Library and get further information at http://www.amico.org.

About The H.W. Wilson Company
An icon in the library community, the H.W. Wilson Company has been a leading provider of information resources for more than 100 years. The Company serves academic, public, school, and special libraries worldwide, with more than 50 specialty databases and a wide range of reference monographs. Full-text periodical resources, biographical databases, abstracts, and indexes are offered on the web via WilsonWeb, on CD-ROM and in print. Popular titles include the Readers' Guide family of references, Biography Reference Bank, Library Literature & Information Science Full Text, The Wilson Standard Library Catalogs, and others. A complete catalog of Wilson services is available on request and further information is featured at http://www.hwwilson.com.