Elsevier in Wall Street Journal

[Ann Okerson <ann.okerson@yale.edu>]

Of possible interest in today's WSJ; available online or in print.

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World Business (A Special Report); Net Profits: Reed Elsevier had a clear
Internet strategy; And it stuck to it

Abstract:

These days -- for an additional fee described as "substantial" but "reasonable"
by Drexel's librarian -- the university has online access to some 1,500
Elsevier journals through the company's ScienceDirect service. ScienceDirect
offers all Elsevier titles and provides specialized Internet searches and
links to titles from other publishers.

Sounds like a pretty good deal for Drexel, which is known for its science
and engineering expertise. But such deals also have proved a boon to Reed,
helping it weather the economic downturn by providing steady but growing
revenue. Though it publishes some glitzy titles including the entertainment
bible Variety, Reed has recently been strutting its stuff on the back of
science and medical titles like "Journal of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics"
and "Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics" -- delivered
through ScienceDirect.

[Reed] also faced plenty of marketing costs associated with bringing
clients online one by one. "We said to clients, 'Here's what you pay and
what you get,'" says Mr. Baker, "So we asked them 'What do you want?' and
let's then talk about how much you should be paying."

Copyright (c) 2003, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

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