Springer Joins Katrina Relief Effort with eBooks Donation Worth More Than $1 million; Global Publisher Presents Gift to New Orleans-Area Universities.

NEW ORLEANS -- As New Orleans continues to rebuild in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com), one of the world's largest science, technology and medicine book publishers, this morning announced a donation of eBooks to seven of the city's universities. Springer announced the donation, valued at more than $1 million, at the American Library Association conference in New Orleans.

The institutions of higher learning that will benefit from Springer's eBooks donation include Tulane University, Xavier University of Louisiana, Loyola University, University of New Orleans, Dillard University, Southern University at New Orleans, and the LSU Health Sciences Center - New Orleans. As a result of Springer's donation, the students and professors at these schools will have complete access to more than 10,000 of Springer's scientific, technical, and medicine books in both fully searchable PDF and HTML.

"Today, Springer is pleased to donate more than 10,000 eBooks each to Tulane, Xavier University, Loyola University, University of New Orleans, Dillard University, Southern University at New Orleans, and the LSU Health Sciences Center - New Orleans," said Peter Hendriks, President Global Sales and Marketing, Springer. "As these universities continue to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, Springer wanted to give them a helping hand by enriching the great library resources that these universities already offer. While no amount of donations can compensate the people of this region for their loss, we hope that our donation to New Orleans' academic centers will contribute to a swift and complete resumption of research activities in the city."

"Springer's donation of eBooks is extraordinarily generous and one of the finest examples of support we have received in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. This donation will help Tulane University continue to provide its students and researchers access to the latest scientific, technological and medical information," said Lance Query, Dean of Libraries and Academic Information Resources at Tulane University. "Such access is critical to Tulane's role as one of the nation's leading universities."

"As the university continues to struggle with recovery efforts after the hurricane, and we deal with loss of collections, staff, facilities, and financial resources, we are overwhelmed and inspired by Springer's incredibly generous gift," said Sharon Mader, Dean of Library Services for the University of New Orleans. "Having access to the new eBook collection will provide in-depth content for student and faculty research that we would not be able to otherwise provide."

The gift to the universities follows Springer's unveiling this weekend of its Springer eBook Collection at the American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference. The Springer eBook Collection gives researchers and students access to more than 10,000 fully searchable eBooks. The eBook content has been integrated with Springer's 1,200 peer-reviewed journals which are accessible via the relaunched SpringerLink (www.springerlink.com) platform.

About Springer:

Springer is one of the leading international scientific publishing companies. It is the largest science, technology and medicine (STM) book publisher in the world with a reputation for excellence spanning over 160 years. Springer publishes on behalf of more than 300 academic associations and professional societies worldwide. The company publishes over 1,200 journals and 3,500 new book titles each year, in addition to offering an array of online services such as the online information platform SpringerLink. This is a preferred data source for researchers in academic and corporate institutions and other vital knowledge centers. Today, SpringerLink spans the universe of research with its peer reviewed journals as well as a constantly expanding library of eReference Works, eBooks and an Online Archive Collection. Springer is part of the specialist publishing group Springer Science+Business Media, which owns 70 publishing companies in more than 20 countries throughout the world and employs some 5,000 people.