Cahners Publishing joins PUBNET Partnership; "Virtual Distribution" in the book publishing industry.

NEWTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 11, 1997--The R.R. Bowker division of Cahners Publishing Company (a business unit of Reed Elsevier, Inc.) has joined in a partnership to develop PUBNET into the major electronic transaction service of the book publishing industry. Pubnet LCC, a limited liability partnership, has been set up by Cahners' Bowker unit along with the Association of American Publishers (AAP), the American Booksellers Association (ABA) and the National Association of College Stores (NACS). The new company will provide low cost transaction capability, inventory management and value added information services to the entire industry.

Recognizing the need for a central electronic transaction system, it was clear that the components were already available with R.R. Bowker's extensive Books In Print database and AAP's PUBNET, an online book ordering system. Pubnet LLC, owned equally by the four partners, will draw upon the recources of all the partners to form the most comprehensive electronic distribution system in the book publishing industry.

The partnership will place the Books In Print database at the core of PUBNET, thus extending Books In Print from a reference work (available in print and on CD-ROM) to an electronic clearinghouse for the publisher/bookseller community. Fred Ciporen, group vice president of the Publishing Group said, "PUBNET is a means by which Bowker will be the key that facilitates the transactional process between the publisher and bookseller. We're pleased to be partners with the ABA, NACS and the AAP in this venture."

Mark Lieberman, who joined Cahners in December as executive vice president of the Entertainment, Communications and Media groups, said "This endeavor enables Cahners to explore virtual distribution capabilities. Our involvement with the PUBNET venture is an indication of how Cahners is engaging in creative ways of working with partners to further our goal of providing important business information efficiently."

The Pubnet venture is an important component in Cahners strategy of developing online capability for the dissemination of business information. In Nov.1996 Cahners acquired BookWire, the World Wide Web site which placed Publishers Weekly, the top magazine in the industry, on line. With comprehensive information on books, reviews, bookstores and libraries, BookWire's resources include a powerful search engine and links to every web site in the industry.

In October 1996 Cahners launched Manufacturing Marketplace, pairing a web site with product directories and company catalogs on CD-ROM, thus forming the most comprehensive information source ever created for the manufacturing industry. Pubnet will not only bring similar information to book publishers and sellers, but will also provide commercial transaction capability, a capability that is now in the formative stages of Manufacturing Marketplace.

Cahners Publishing Company, a unit of Reed Elsevier Inc., is the publisher of more than 85 specialized business and professional publications as well as CD-ROM and online services. Cahners, headquartered in Newton, Mass., serves the vital information needs of over 5.6 million business managers and professionals around the world. In addition to its publications, Cahners also provides publication and industry-based research, economic forecasting, reprints, direct mail services, database marketing plus custom publishing projects in all its served markets.

For more information, please contact Susanna Joannidis at Cahners (617-558-4229) or Janine Gordon or Emmerling Post Gordon Public Relations (212-572-0736). For general information, visit the Cahners web site at http://www.cahners.com

CONTACT: Cahners

Susanna Joannidis, 617/558-4229

or

Emmerling Post Gordon Public Relations

Janine Gordon, 212/572-0736