Antw: Re: Archiving Policies

[Sharon Mattern <S.MATTERN@KARGER.CH>]

At Karger Publishers, we have elected to utilize a non-profit, reliable
third party for the establishment for an external archive, the Online
Computer Library Center (OCLC) in Ohio. In the event that Karger can no
longer provide online content to a particular publication or publications,
the OCLC will activate its existing archive for subscribers. We decided
that the establishment of a permanent archive that was set apart from our
publishing house was the best solution for our subscribers. Best regards,

Sharon Mattern, Internet Services Department
S. Karger AG
Allschwilerstrasse 10
CH-4009 Basel
Switzerland

E-mail: s.mattern@karger.ch
Website: http://www.karger.com

Telephone: +41-61-306-1111
Direct: +41-61-306-1350
Fax: +41-61-306-1234

_______________________________________________________________________

Date:  October 29, 1999   Contact:  Karen Hunter
     Senior Vice President
     Tel: (1) 212 633-3787
     k.hunter@elsevier.com 

For Immediate Release

A COMMITMENT TO ELECTRONIC ARCHIVING

AMSTERDAM, THE NETHERLANDS and NEW YORK, NY, USA -- Elsevier Science
announces its new policy on permanent archiving of electronic journals.
Elsevier will maintain the journals offered through ScienceDirect, its
host service, in perpetuity.  The archives will be migrated, as the
technology for storage, display or access changes, and an internal
production archive separate from the ScienceDirect distribution platform
will ensure and the ability to recreate the files in case of disaster.

The present ScienceDirect server holds over 700,000 articles from Elsevier
Science journals and expands at a rate of 25,000 articles per month. The
current format standards are SGML and PDF, and most files are retained in
both formats.

Elsevier Science understands the importance to its library customers of
providing a secure electronic archive in the transition from paper to
electronic.  Therefore, the company also makes the commitment that, in the
unlikely future event that Elsevier Science (or ScienceDirect itself)
should be unable to meet this responsibility, the archive will be turned
over to one or more depositories chosen jointly by the publisher and an
independent board of library advisors.

In addition, the company is in active discussions with librarians and
other parties about additional ways to achieve the level of assurance that
librarians need with respect to long-term access to electronic journals.

Derk Haank, Chief Executive, Elsevier Science, indicates, "Libraries have
a long tradition of building an archive of the published record and they
do not want to endanger that in the move to the electronic medium.  We are
keenly aware of our responsibility to assure both our subscribers and
authors that the journal literature be available and accessible
indefinitely."

Elsevier Science is the world's largest publisher of scientific, technical
and medical journals.  ScienceDirect, a unit of Elsevier Science, is the
world's most comprehensive full-text scientific database and offers
electronic access to more than 1,000 journals.  At its core, ScienceDirect
includes journals from Elsevier Science as well as other leading
scientific publishers and an expanding suite of secondary databases.
Elsevier Science is part of Reed Elsevier plc, a leading provider of
information to the scientific, legal and business communities.

For further information about Elsevier Science's policy on electronic
archiving, contact Karen Hunter.

-----