The Thomson Scientific businesses—Thomson Current Drugs, Thomson Delphion, Thomson Derwent, Thomson ISI and Thomson ISI ResearchSoft—eagerly participated in the 94th Annual Special Libraries Association Conference, "Putting Knowledge to Work," that took place June 9-11 in New York. Thomson Scientific employees were visible at many divisional meetings, breakfasts, luncheons and ceremonies, oftentimes sponsoring these events.

Being a corporate sponsor is not without its perks, as evident in Vin Caraher, Executive Vice President of Academic and Government Markets, Thomson ISI, being given the opportunity to meet with Bill Fisher, SLA President.

On Sunday, June 8, Thomson ISI sponsored the Physics-Astronomy-Mathematics Division Vendor Update. Vendors provided updates on products and services in scholarly communication and publishing for physics, astronomy, mathematics, and computer science. Sean Serany, Thomson ISI, spoke briefly on the expanded functionality of ISI Web of Knowledge^SM, the new Derwent Web of Nanotechnology^™ and Thomson Patent Store.

On Monday, June 9, moderator Katherine Whitley of the Chemistry Division presented a Vendor Roundtable, which featured presentations about new products and services relevant to chemists.

Matt Kellett (far right), Thomson ISI, covered the enhanced Chemistry content that is being offered in Web of Science^® version 6.0 and Derwent Innovations Index^® version 4.0. He also mentioned that Thomson Scientific content will be available through MDL DiscoveryGate by the end of the year when data from Derwent Chemical Resource, Current Drugs' Investigational Drugs database(IDdb) and the ISI Index Chemicus^® compound is loaded.

Tuesday, June 10 was a busy day for the Thomson Scientific businesses. For starters, Thomson ISI was awarded the opportunity to speak with Sharon Lenius and the members of the Military Librarians Division (MLD) in return for sponsoring the Awards and Business Breakfast. Those present at the conference will also remember that this is the group that made their debut on the Today Show and got the chance to speak with weatherman Al Roker.

While speaking with the MLD, Amy Hueber, Thomson ISI, first congratulated them on their 50^th anniversary. Next she spoke about the role the military librarian plays in a rapidly changing environment where national defense is a top priority. In this endeavor, Thomson ISI is pleased to provide the MLD with the cutting-edge resources necessary for such an awesome task.

Several workshops were held for those librarians interested in receiving tutorials on the products of partner organizations hosted by Thomson ISI. Helen Szegeti, Thomson ISI, gave overviews on CAB ABSTRACTS^® and INSPEC^®, both available on the ISI Web of Knowledge platform. CAB ABSTRACTS, produced by CABI Publishing covers the significant research and development literature in the fields of agriculture and applied life science. INSPEC, from the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE), is the world's leading source of research and development literature in the fields of physics, electronics and electrical engineering, computers and control, and information technology.

The exhibits were impressive and provided a great opportunity to gain knowledgeable information, but with all of the activity could also be a little tiring. On Tuesday evening, Thomson Scientific attempted to keep up the energy of patrons by providing food and drink on the exhibit floor.

Of course, no SLA Conference would be complete without the Thomson ISI Corporate Reception. A tradition at SLA, this year's event was held at the illustrious Whitney Museum of American Art.

Over 500 attendees enjoyed a selection of hot and cold Hors D'oeuvres, as well as red and white wine and a selection of mini deserts.

A Brazilian jazz band entertained guests as they ate, drank, and interacted with colleagues and Thomson Scientific staff.

Well known by Thomson ISI customers, a commemorative tile was given to all attendees as a parting thank-you gift. This marked the 13th year the tile was given to customers and many looked forward to adding it to their collection.

Attendees of the conference were also able to visit the Thomson businesses exhibit booths. Visitors to the Thomson ISI booth were treated to demonstrations of ISI Web of Knowledge products. Web of Science now integrates content from ISI Chemistry^SM and Current Contents Connect^® has been enhanced with eFirst. The latest versions of both resources feature personalization and alerting technology. In addition, Thomson ISI ReseachSoft introduced WriteNote^®, a new web-based bibliographic solution that helps students cite sources in their papers as well as RefViz, a new bibliographic visualization and analysis product that maps textual references so users can obtain an "at a glance" summary of the major themes in a reference set.

Concurrently, visitors to the Thomson Derwent booth learned about the Thomson Patent Store—the one-stop resource that enables users to order original patent documents from anywhere in the world through a single interface. Staff also demonstrated Derwent Analytics^SM—the new data mining and visualization software product for the desktop that provides an intuitive way to manage and extract business-critical insights from the wealth of content within the Derwent World Patents Index^® database. In addition, Derwent Innovations Index version 4.0, which offers expanded functionality and faster access to key engineering and technology was introduced.

Also demonstrated in the Thomson Derwent booth was the highly acclaimed Investigational Drugs database (IDdb). Produced by Thomson Current Drugs, IDdb is an essential information tool for those who need to keep up-to-date on the latest developments in drug research. The IDdb provides validated, integrated and evaluated information from such diverse sources as patents, scientific literature and meetings, commercial sources and direct company communications. In addition, staff showed the recently launched Strategic Drugs database (SDdb)—the Web-based product designed as a business analysis and planning solution for strategists in the international bio-pharmaceutical industries that provides the most comprehensive and strategic information available on drugs in development and on the market.

Located in the Thomson Derwent booth, Thomson Delphion announced that work files can now be shared and annotated, enhancing collaboration across organizations. Users can now provide clients with access to works-in-progress, review portfolios with outside counsel, communicate competitive discoveries with colleagues, and keep everybody "on the same page." Additionally, users can now view thumbnail images and abstracts on the Delphion Result Set without drilling down into individual patents. To guide users through the many tools available, Thomson Delphion conducts live Web seminars each month to enhance comfort and expertise with the Delphion Research Web site and tools. Customers can register for these free seminars by going to: http://www.delphion.com/news-events.