Elsevier Electronic Subscriptions -- EES (John Tagler) ERCELAA@ctrvax.Vanderbilt.Edu 24 Feb 1995 19:37 UTC
Date: Thu, 23 Feb 1995 14:28:56 -0500 (EST) From: "Tagler, John" <j.tagler@SMTPHOST.ELSEVIER.COM> Subject: Elsevier Electronic Subscriptions (EES) PRESS RELEASE FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Date: February 23,1995 Contact: Roland D.J. Dietz Senior Vice President Telephone (212)633-3945 Fax (212)633-3935 ELSEVIER ANNOUNCES: ELECTRONIC SUBSCRIPTIONS, THE NEXT STEP AFTER TULIP NEW YORK, NY -- Elsevier Science announces the introduction of Elsevier Electronic Subscriptions (EES), an electronic version of its traditional research journals. This new service, to be available initially on a pilot basis, will offer libraries complete electronic editions either in addition to or in lieu of paper journals. EES are available for all of the more than 1100 Elsevier Science journals, published under the imprints of Elsevier, Pergamon, North-Holland and Butterworth-Heinemann. The electronic subscriptions will be provided in cover-to-cover bitmapped page images (black/white single-page TIFF files, resolution 300 dots per inch, compressed using CCITT Fax Group IV). Bibliographic header information, including the abstract and keywords (when present), will be provided in structured SGML-tagged text. The full text will be provided as an unedited and unstructured ASCII file. This format is similar to the one used in TULIP, an experiment in full-text electronic subscriptions undertaken by Elsevier Science and nine major research universities which started in 1991. EES files are intended to be implemented with either the library's own software or third party software, making use of open standards available now. This will enable libraries to build their electronic journal infrastructure on the basis of this service and to extend and modify flexibly in the future. To enable proper installation and support of third party software for the use of the journal information, Elsevier Science is setting up non-exclusive marketing agreements with these third party suppliers. In the coming weeks, Elsevier Science will be contacting various institutions to invite participation in the initial phase. Elsevier Science will work with these institutions and determine whether they have the technical and organizational infrastructure needed to support a successful implementation. During the pilot phase, expected to last through 1995, Elsevier Science will work with libraries to refine the technical standards and service requirements to respond effectively to users' needs. "Elsevier wants to be with its clients at the forefront of electronic publishing by starting now to develop an open electronic journal infrastructure," said Roland Dietz, Senior Vice President of Elsevier Science, New York. "EES will give all participants valuable insight into the ways in which electronic subscriptions can be used, and in the process we will be able to deliver to the readers a product that has important increased functionalities. As such, the EES service is a logical next step after the experimental CAPCAS and TULIP programs, and it shows the commitment Elsevier Science is making to work with clients in developing the electronic information infrastructure." Delivery and use of these electronic versions of Elsevier Science journals will be governed by an electronic subscription license. This generic approach, Elsevier Electronic Subscriptions, towards making journals available for electronic infrastructures at customers is complementary to other initiatives which Elsevier Science will announce and launch over the coming months. These initiatives will be geared more towards specific scientific disciplines and markets. Elsevier Science, the world's leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical publications, has offices in New York, Amsterdam, Oxford, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro, Lausanne and Shannon. A Member of the Reed Elsevier group.