IDEAL Electronic Library Adopted in Turkey.

Business/Technology Editors

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 12, 2000

Academic Press (AP), a leading global scientific publisher, and the creator of IDEAL, an online library of scientific journals, has expanded its presence beyond Europe and into Asia Minor. The Anatolian University Library Consortia (ANKOS) recently signed an IDEAL Open Consortium (IOC) licensing agreement granting IDEAL access to four of Turkey's leading universities in Ankara.

The members of the ANKOS Consortia are Gazi University, Middle East Technical University, Bilkent University and ULAKBIM. All are located in Ankara and are among the most important universities in Turkey. The ANKOS Consortia became part of Turkey's IOC through the international subscription agency, Lange & Springer, an affiliate of EBSCO Industries, Inc.

An IOC is an institution or set of institutions grouped together for the purpose of licensing the electronic material within IDEAL. The IOC can be an informal consortium, which means there need be no structured governing body over the IOC. The IOC system offers member institutions all the benefits of a group license without having to form a traditional consortium. All IOC member institutes make autonomous purchasing decisions.

"This is a big step into the future for our academic community," said ANKOS spokesperson, Bulent Karasozen, from the Middle East Technical University in Ankara. "Academic Press is the first publisher whose complete electronic journals are offered in Turkish libraries."

"Offering IDEAL in four of Ankara's most important academic institutions is a big step toward meeting the demands of scientific researchers throughout Turkey," said Dagmar Laging, licensing consultant for IDEAL. "There is a high demand for online scientific information in Turkey and the Turkish ministry of education is working hard to provide students throughout the country with online access to science and technology databases. IDEAL gives the universities in Ankara a competitive edge and many more Turkish institutions are expected to follow their lead."

Through the innovative IOC licensing program, academic institutions licensed for IDEAL are able to significantly increase the number of high-quality research publications available to their patrons while maintaining a tight library budget. In addition, electronic delivery allows the widest dissemination of information to users while eliminating delays of the postal systems.

Academic Press is the publisher of IDEAL, the International Digital Electronic Access Library, which is now licensed by more than 1400 academic institutions worldwide with over eight million authorized users. Academic Press is an international multiple-media publisher of high-quality journals, book serials, major reference works, databases, textbooks and monographs. Nearly 250 Academic Press and Harcourt Health Science journals are available in electronic form to library consortia around the world. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Harcourt, Inc., Harcourt General (NYSE: H) is a leading global multiple-media publisher, providing educational, training and assessment products and services to classroom, corporate, professional and consumer markets.

IDEAL is a registered trademark of Harcourt, Inc.