From the OCLC website:
DUBLIN, Ohio, USA, 17 March 2010—OCLC and H.W. Wilson will work together to transition library subscriptions for H.W. Wilson databases provided on the OCLC FirstSearch service to the WilsonWeb platform over the next 16 months. Wilson will continue to index many of its databases in WorldCat.org and WorldCat Local, a program that began in 2008.
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Amy Springer, a Government and Business Information Librarian, who blogs at Ch-Ch-Ch Changing Librarian, has graded several frequently used library database interfaces according to their visual appeal and perceived interest to users.

She has a good point; library databases should now be a little flashier. Is the predominant lack of images and use of white space supposed to signal that the researcher is doing serious work? As expensive as these databases are, they tend to look… inexpensive. The way that they are presented on the screen does not effectively communicate their value. It would be easier for libraries to justify their subscriptions to these resources if a casual user or viewer would see a little more than some words and seach boxes on a page.

Bring on the images, graphs, and colors! Other useful features might be sample searches, citation tools, and citations. The experience of searching a database could then have a context that references the research process and the products of that process.

If you have a concern about continuity, note that a significant and growing percentage of library user populations have come to expect change in this environment, and what could be perceived as stability could also be seen as stagnation.

What is your paid database design pet peeve?