ISSN: 1046-3410


                NEWSLETTER ON SERIALS PRICING ISSUES
                        NO 256  February 14, 2001
                          Editor: Marcia Tuttle
                        Guest Editor: James Mouw



                                CONTENTS


  256.1 From the Guest Editor, James Mouw
  256.2 Taylor & Francis Group plc Acquires Gordon and Breach Publishing Group, 
         Keith Courtney

This issue of NSPI consists of a press release announcing the acquisition of Gordon and Breach by Taylor & Francis. The Newsletter does't normally publish press releases unless they have some direct bearing on pricing issues. Given the many previous NSPI articles devoted to Gordon and Breach, we felt that this release would generate enough interest to warrant its inclusion. We welcome subscriber comments on this acquisition.

256.2 Taylor & Francis Group plc Acquires Gordon and Breach Publishing
Group Keith Courtney, Sales Director, Taylor & Francis Ltd, keith.courtney@tandf.co.uk

[Received February 14, 2001]

Taylor & Francis Group plc are pleased to announce the acquisition of all of the publishing activities of the Gordon and Breach Publishing Group (including Harwood Academic but excluding art book and magazine publishing).

Gordon and Breach publish over 250 journals and approximately 100 books each year.

Taylor & Francis, academic journal and book publishers for more than 200 years, will apply their experience to the Gordon and Breach journal publishing programme to ensure that the excellent academic content is made available to the academic community in a more predictable and manageable manner.

Historically, Gordon and Breach have employed a system which has enabled them to publish academic research papers as they are received, but the variable flow of papers in any given year has lead to a lack of uncertainty [sic] of cost for the subscriber. In addition, volume start dates have not necessarily been linked to calendar years.

It is Taylor & Francis' intention to review the entire publishing programme in order to:

* Establish the number of pages, issues and volumes in a given year * Publish volumes on a calendar year basis * Establish a fixed annual subscription price so that there is no need for supplementary billing * Consider the current and future pricing strategy * Establish online availability of all possible titles

These proposed changes are designed to alleviate any of the problems that the library community, in particular, may have experienced, and to enhance the overall quality of service to subscribers. It is hoped to implement these strategies as early as possible beginning in 2002.

For further information contact: Keith Courtney, Sales Director, Taylor & Francis Ltd Telephone +44 (0) 20 7842 2073 Facsimile +44 (0) 20 7842 2261 e-mail keith.courtney@tandf.co.uk

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Statements of fact and opinion appearing in the Newsletter on Serials Pricing Issues are made on the responsibility of the authors alone, and do not imply the endorsement of the editor, the editorial board, or the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
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Readers of the Newsletter on Serials Pricing Issues are encouraged to share the information in the newsletter by electronic or paper methods. We would appreciate credit if you quote from the newsletter.
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The Newsletter on Serials Pricing Issues (ISSN: 1046-3410) is published by the editor through Academic Technology and Networks at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, as news is available. Editor: Marcia Tuttle, Email: marcia_tuttle@unc.edu; Telephone: 919 929-3513. Editorial Board: Keith Courtney (Taylor and Francis), Fred Friend (University College London), Birdie MacLennan (University of Vermont), Michael Markwith (Swets Subscription Services), James Mouw (University of Chicago), Heather Steele (Blackwell's Periodicals Division), David Stern (Yale University), and Scott Wicks (Cornell University).

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