The database publisher: ISI  

"In their different media  -  print, CD-ROM and command-driven online services  -  these citation indexes have for over 30 years been a link mechanism, establishing links between the researcher seeking published material relevant to a given question, at the same time as codifying the links created by citing authors within the corpus of published material.  This approach has increased the efficiency of the research process, but it is the advent of Web technology, and above all the hypertext link, which now enables the user to exploit fully the power of these links." 

Kimberley, R, in Webs of Research: Putting the User in Control. IRISS'98, Internet Research and Information for Social Scientists, Bristol, UK, March 1998