Pulp and Paper Professionals Find New Home On the Internet.

HOBOKEN, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 24, 1999--

In the three months since launch, over 2000 professionals in the pulp and paper-related industry have come together online at Ei Paper Village(TM), to interact, share ideas and solve problems direct from their desktops.

Ei Paper Village is a co-operative venture between Engineering Information, Inc. and the Institute of Paper Science & Technology (IPST). The subscription-based Internet service covers both technical and market issues in the pulp and paper industry, on a global basis. Ei Paper Village Editor, Steve Barrett, takes up the story: "The Paper Village has created quite a buzz. The pulp and paper market is showing signs of picking up and mergers and acquisitions are still coming thick and fast," he explained. "With so much going on, there's a big need for industry executives to communicate together, source facts, get the opinions of industry leaders and to stay on top of developments in general."

Mr. Barrett puts together a steady stream of features, news, letters, and alerting services for Paper Village users. "The editorial has generated some good feedback but we are finding that people especially like the opportunity to talk about a subject with their peers," he said. "They find this to be the best way to shed light on a issue." To facilitate this kind of interaction, the Paper Village Forums section allows on-line discussion in key areas of interest to the pulp and paper community. The first real-time, on-line Forum took place at end of May on the topic of "The Impact of Paper and Board Substrate Properties on Subjective Printed Appearance," and was moderated by Dr. Wayne Robbins of the Institute of Paper Science and Technology's Fiber and Paper Physics Division. Several more forums are planned for the coming months.

Another heavily subscribed Paper Village service is online help. "If you've checked the Ei Paper Village and simply can't find the reference information you need - the Librarian will help you find it," said Bill Bartenbach, Head of Client Services. "You will be pointed to the best reference resources available in the Village or, if possible, the piece of information you require will be located." The Ei Paper Village also has a team of resident Senior Paper Engineers to help users to find the technical information they are looking for, and will use their own resources to help find it on the Internet or elsewhere.

"Signs are that the format, content, and in particular the interactive features of the Ei Paper Village are what the pulp and paper industry need," said Steve Barrett. "But they're not fixed, and we welcome further suggestions for changes and improvements." In fact, Ei Paper Village has already seen a number of changes and improvements to the whole collection of information resources packed into the site. The Paper Village Reporter has the job of keeping users abreast of all the developments in the Paper Village and can be accessed by e-mail or found on-line, archived for easy reference.

Ei Paper Village can be found at www.ei.org/paper. A trial is available from the Web site, or by contacting an Ei representative.

Ei Paper Village Editor

Steve Barrett has a Bachelor's degree in physics from the University of Hull, UK as well as more than 15 years' experience of technical publishing.

The Partners

Engineering Information, Inc. (Ei) is the producer of the Engineering Village, an award-winning Internet site serving the Engineering Community since 1995. It is also the producer of Compendex(R), the largest engineering database service in the world.

The Institute of Paper Science and Technology (IPST) is a private graduate school and research center serving the paper industry since 1929. It is supported by 55 member companies in North America. PaperChem is at the heart of Ei Paper Village, built up over 50 years by IPST to be the world's most comprehensive information resource covering the literature of the pulp, paper and paperboard industries.

For further information contact:

Ryan Sheppard, Ei Marketing Manager

Tel [phone] ext. 524 Fax [phone]

Email [e-mail]

www.ei.org