ACQNET v1n054 (March 30, 1991) URL = http://hegel.lib.ncsu.edu/serials/stacks/acqnet/acq-v1n054 ACQNET, Vol 1, No. 54, March 30, 1991 ===================================== (1) FROM: Ann Okerson SUBJECT: Publisher consolidations and mergers, Elsevier, Pergamon (31 lines) (2) FROM: Marsha Clark SUBJECT: Publisher consolidations and mergers, Elsevier, Pergamon (8 lines) (3) FROM: Julie Gammon SUBJECT: VTLS Acquisitions System (11 lines) (4) FROM: Christian SUBJECT: Networks, userid directories (84 lines) (1) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 29 Mar 91 07:55:59 PST From: Ann Okerson Subject: Elsevier/Pergamon The major scholarly publishing news of yesterday was that Elsevier has negoti- ated to buy Pergamon Press. This announcement filtered through the publishing community after lunch Thursday and is detailed in reports in Friday morning's national press (_Wall Street Journal_, NY _Times_, _Post_, _Chicago Tribune_, etc). Excerpts from WSJ: $764.9 million dollar sale "would reinforce the position of Amsterdam-based Elsevier as the world's biggest publisher of scientific journals, a highly profitable niche." Elsevier proposes "substantial investments in electronic delivery of scientific information over the next decade." It appears that the combined serials output of Elsevier will be some 1100 largely sci-tech journals. The second-largest publisher in the arena is also European: Springer with over 300 titles. Had this merger occurred in the U.S., there is the sense that anti-monopolostics representations would be made in an effort to halt the sale. The discussions have been occasionally mentioned in the _Financial Times_. _AGAINST THE GRAIN_ (College of Charleston) reported this in its 2/91 issue. Since then, the players appear to have been Reed and Elsevier. The discussions are apparently concluded with the announcement made public yesterday, 2/28/91. (2) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 29 Mar 91 08:21 EST From: Marsha Clark Subject: Elsevier/Pergamon "Maxwell Selling Pergamon Cornerstone of His Empire" That is the headline on page D1 of the New York _Times_ 3/29/91. It says Elsevier is paying 440 million pounds (about $770 million) in cash for Pergamon and two affiliates. Maxwell needs the cash to reduce corporate debt. "During the current financial year, Pergamon and its affiliates are expected to earn a pretax profit of -L-33.2 million (about $58.1 million), 10 percent more than a year ago." Why don't they just buy Springer and we can all close up shop and go home!! (3) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 29 Mar 91 08:27:18 EST From: Julie Gammon Subject: VTLS Acquisitions System IS anyone OUT THERE USING THE VTLS Acquisitions system? We've been on the system for a year and are still experiencing problems that even their help desk can't seem to solve. Specifically, the problems relate to the fund accounting portion of the system and the year end roll over of funds. If you've had a similar experience with the system, please contact me. If you have solutions, that would be great, but even if you don't, contact me and at least we can commiserate! (4) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sat, 30 March 91 08:02:01 EST From: Christian Subject: Networks, userid directories This item appeared last Wednesday on the HUMANIST network. In light of our discussion about directories, I thought it was pertinent and some of you might want to know about this, even if it has nothing to do with acquisitions. Date: Tue, 26 Mar 91 15:51:07 EST From: Elaine M Brennan Subject: Userid Directories Here's one source for information on userids directories (reprinted from Humanist 4.0249, originally posted by Jan Eveleth ): [Most of this information comes from the _Internet Resource Guide_ put out by NSF Network Service Center (nnsc@nnsc.nsf.net).] Electronic databases of user information are frequently referred to as White Pages. Several organizations, including DDN, NYSERNet, and CREN/CSNET, maintain white pages. Of most interest to BITNET users would be the CREN/CSNET service. (CREN = Corporation for Research and Educational Networking, formerly BITNET, Inc.) All users of the Internet are eligible to register and use the service. To get information about the service send mail to INFOSERVER@SH.CS. NET with the following lines in the body of the message: Request: info Topic: ns You will receive 2-3 files with instructions on how to use the service. If you are interested in registering yourself on the service, duplicate the following form with your information and send it in a mail message to cic@sh.cs.net. (It will take a few working days for your entry to be processed.) Example mail message form from CSNET: Name: Mock Turtle Account: mt,wonderland.oxbridge.edu, oxbridge Mailbox: mt@wonderland.oxbridge.edu Phone: (617) 999-8765 Address: Oxbridge University Eastboro, MA 02199 Misc: soup Griffon Disposition: Add The "misc" category above should include one-word indications of the topics you're interested in. How to find someone that's registered in a white pages database? You can query the database directly. The CREN/CSNET white pages can be reached by telnetting to sh.cs.net, login as "ns". Once logged on you may use the "whois" command (help is available) to locate a user/userid. Similarly for using the NYSERNet White Pages Pilot Project (about 50 institu- tions currently participating) accessible at wp.psi.com, login as fred. But an easier (though not always faster) method is to make your query on the Knowbot Information Service. Knowbot systematically poses the query to many white pages located around the country--including CREN/CSNET. To access Knowbot, telnet to nri.reston.va.us 185. (The 185 is a port number and is essential.) Once connected, you are provided a rather stark screen with a prompt waiting for your input. Simply type the name you're searching for, e.g. Mock Turtle. The system searches for exact matches so if Mock Turtle registered as M. Turtle, Knowbot won't find it. Usually best to use just last names, but beware those that are common; you could easily end up with over 100 Smiths. The disadvantage of Knowbot is that it will systematically search through all of it's accessible white pages, even if you found the user you were looking for at the beginning of the search. The advantage of using Knowbot, is the simplicity of use and "one-stop shopping". As with any information service, it will only be useful if there's a critical mass of users. I encourage you to register with CREN/CSNET and try Knowbot. And, as with any publicly-accessible information, there will be some people who don't want their phone numbers--or userids--listed; so don't expect to find the email address of your university president. Jan Eveleth eveleth@yalevm Yale University ***** END OF FILE ***** END OF FILE ***** END OF FILE ***** END OF FILE *****