Elsevier and NESLi2 conclude major agreement - RELEASE

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

Press Release: Elsevier and NESLi2 conclude major agreement to provide
online science journals

Monday 19th January, 2004.

The UK Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) and Elsevier, part of
the Reed Elsevier Group, today announced the conclusion of a new agreement
as part of NESLi2, the national electronic journals initiative for the
higher education and research communities in the United Kingdom.

The new two-year agreement, which starts in January 2004, provides the
framework under which the UK's universities and research communities will
have electronic access to Elsevier's scientific, technical and medical
journals through the ScienceDirect platform.  These include many of the
most highly ranked and important journals in their respective fields. The
new agreement has been expanded to cover access to the Academic Press and
Harcourt Health Sciences journals acquired by Elsevier in 2001.

Commenting on the new agreement with Elsevier, Dr Tom Graham, Librarian at
the University of Newcastle and Chair of the JISC's Journals Working
Group, said:

"Many important journals are included in the Elsevier publishing stable,
and it was therefore important that we reached an agreement with the
publisher which met the needs of the higher education community. I am
delighted that, after much work on both sides, this has been achieved. At
a time of change in scholarly publishing, this will provide a period of
stability while we look ahead, along with publishers of such material,
towards agreements adapted to optimise the possibilities of electronic
communication."

Arie Jongejan, CEO, Elsevier Science & Technology, commented:

"We are very pleased with this agreement with JISC. This provides the
framework for researchers in all leading UK institutions to have access to
highly valued scientific and medical research content through
ScienceDirect. The new agreement underscores the importance of
ScienceDirect and Elsevier's other electronic offerings in making high
quality peer reviewed research widely available throughout the higher
education and research community."

Albert Prior of Content Complete Ltd, JISC's Negotiation Agent for NESLI2,
added: "We are very pleased with the outcome of our discussions with
Elsevier, which provides significant benefits for the academic and
research community in terms of affordability, access, flexibility and
choice."

Notes for editors:

About NESLi2

NESLi2 was launched in June 2003 and covers subscription agreements for
the years 2004 to 2006. It is the successor scheme to the original NESLI
which ran from 1997-2002. NESLi2 has focused its discussions on ten
scholarly publishers for 2004, following an extensive Serials Requirements
Survey undertaken in 2002. An eleventh consortium of publishers was added
when it became clear that the ALPSP Learned Journals Collection would be
available for libraries to order for 2004. The negotiations were handled
by Content Complete Ltd on behalf of JISC.

The JISC is a joint committee of the UK further and higher education
funding bodies, and is responsible for supporting the innovative use of
information and communication technology (ICT) to support learning,
teaching, and research. It is best known for providing the SuperJANET
network, a range of advice and support services, and a portfolio of
high-quality resources. Information about the JISC, its services and
programmes can be found at http://www.jisc.ac.uk/ Contact Philip Pothen on
+44 (0)20 7848 2935, email p.pothen@jisc.ac.uk

About Elsevier

Elsevier is a world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical
information products and services. Working in partnership with the global
science and health communities, the company publishes more than 1,800
journals and 2,200 new books per year, in addition to offering a suite of
innovative electronic products, such as ScienceDirect�
(www.sciencedirect.com ) and MD Consult (http://www.mdconsult.com/ )
bibliographic databases, online reference works and subject specific
portals. Contat Ian Brune on +31-20-485-3719, email i.brune@elseviecom

Elsevier (www.elsevier.com) is a global company headquartered in
Amsterdam, The Netherlands and has offices worldwide.  The company is part
of Reed Elsevier Group plc (www.reedelsevier.com), a world-leading
publisher and information provider.  Operating in the science and medical,
legal, education and business-to-business sectors, Reed Elsevier provides
high-quality and flexible information solutions to users, with increasing
emphasis on the Internet as a means of delivery.  Reed Elsevier's ticker
symbols are REN (Euronext Amsterdam), REL (London Stock Exchange), RUK and
ENL (New York Stock Exchange).

About Content Complete

Content Complete Ltd (CCL) is a new company established by Albert Prior
and Paul Harwood, both of whom have extensive journals related experience,
to provide outsourced negotiations and related support services to
academic and research libraries and institutions in the area of digital
content. CCL's partner in NESLi2 is MIMAS, the JISC/ESRC supported
national data centre, which provides the helpdesk and communications
functions of NESLi2. Contact Albert Prior on +44 (0) 1993 880044.  For
further information on Content Complete Ltd and MIMAS visit
www.contentcomplete.com and www.mimas.ac.uk

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