ALPSP-Swets Partnership Awarded Best STM Information Product for 2004

[Ylann Schemm <yschemm@nl.swets.com>]

Swets and ALPSP would like to share the good news with liblicense members
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PRESS RELEASE

Lisse, the Netherlands
December 6, 2004

ALPSP-Swets Partnership Awarded Best STM Information Product for 2004

At the International Information Industry Awards dinner on December 1st at
the Royal Lancaster Hotel, London, the ALPSP Learned Journals Collection
(ALJC) in partnership with Swets, was awarded the 2004 International
Information Industry Award for "Best STM Information Product". The ALJC is
a unique online collection of 433 journals from 44 diverse publishers,
enabling small and medium-sized publishers to sell effectively to
consortia and other library customers by packaging their journals in a
single collection with a single umbrella license, pricing model and
delivery platform.

The International Information Industry Awards, hosted by VNU Exhibitions
and Information World Review allow the global information industry -
through a judging panel of leading industry figures - to recognize the
achievements of teams, projects, vendors and individuals. The other
products shortlisted for this prestigious award are ACS Journal Access
(American Chemical Society), Faculty of 1000 Biology (BioMed Central),
Inspec Archive (Institute of Electrical Engineers), Medicines Complete
(Royal Pharmaceutical Society), PLOS Biology (Public Library of Science),
and Springer Open Choice.
 
The ALJC was devised by the Association of Learned and Professional
Society Publishers as a solution to the problems faced by small
not-for-profit publishers and commercial publishers of high-quality
journals, who increasingly find themselves squeezed out of library budgets
by 'Big Deals' from the larger players. ALPSP selected Swets as its
partner to coordinate the complex licensing and legal structure and to
serve as a worldwide sales, marketing and access channel for the
collection. The ALJC offers libraries the benefit of a single negotiation
and users the possibility of accessing over 400 high quality full-text
e-journals directly via SwetsWise Online Content. ALJC titles are
available both in the Full Collection and in sub-collections covering
Medicine & Life Science, Science & Technology, and the Arts, Humanities &
Social Sciences.

Sally Morris, Chief Executive of ALPSP, said: "ALPSP is delighted with
this award, which recognises both an innovative collaboration between
smaller publishers and a new kind of relationship between publishers and
subscription agents. We greatly appreciate all the hard work that Swets
has put into its success to date".

John Martin, Swets Information Services' Chief Commercial Officer, "We are
extremely pleased that among the many prestigious candidates, the ALJC has
been chosen as the "Best STM Information Product". The award recognizes
the unique collaboration between Swets and publishers in the rapidly
changing world of e-journals."

About ALPSP

ALPSP is the international trade association for the community of
not-for-profit publishers and those who work with them to disseminate
academic and professional information.  It was founded in 1972, and
currently has over 300 members in more than 30 countries. ALPSP carries
out research and other projects, establishes good practice guidelines,
monitors national and international issues and represents members'
interests to the wider world.  It offers an extensive programme of
courses, seminars, and training as well as an informative website
(www.alpsp.org), a quarterly journal, Learned Publishing, and a monthly
electronic newsletter, ALPSP Alert. The ALPSP Learned Journals Collection
is the most important of ALPSP's range of collaborative initiatives for
members.

About Swets Information Services

Swets Information Services is the premier outsourcing and facilitating
partner for the acquisition, access and management of scholarly, business
and professional information. The world's leading academic, government and
medical organizations and one in three Fortune 500 companies choose Swets
as their agent. Our dedicated and experienced staff supports customers in
over 160 countries through 22 offices around the world.

Media Contact
Ylann Schemm
Swets Information Services
P.O. Box 830
2160 SZ Lisse, The Netherlands
T: +31 (0) 252 435 389
F: +31 (0) 252 435 514
E: press@nl.swets.com
www.swets.com