RoweCom and Books24x7.com Partner to Bring Electronic Book Content to Corporations and Libraries

Business Wire, Feb 22, 2000

Business Editors

WESTWOOD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 22, 2000

University of Toronto Selects Books24x7.com Signaling

First Success in Expanding into Library Market

RoweCom Inc. (Nasdaq: ROWE), the leading business-to-business e-commerce provider of solutions for managing the acquisition of knowledge resources, today announced it has entered into a strategic partnership with Books24x7.com, the most trusted online resource center for IT professionals. Under the agreement, RoweCom will offer Books24x7.com's massive online library of technology reference material to its Knowledge Store (kStore) and Knowledge Library (kLibrary) clients. As RoweCom's newest partner, Books24x7.com joins other leading content providers such as barnesandnoble.com, PRG Guide, NewSub, and Absolute Backorder Service, Inc.

"Books24x7.com's prestigious reference books and journals paired with RoweCom's online knowledge management solution create a very compelling offering for companies and libraries establishing comprehensive online collections," said Christopher Pooley, CEO of Books24x7.com. "RoweCom's established track record of success makes them an ideal partner to increase Books24x7.com's penetration in corporate accounts as well as to help with our expansion into the library market which we believe has been under-served until now."

"Our partnership with Books24x7.com benefits both companies," said Paul Burmeister, RoweCom's Chief Financial Officer. "Not only will Books24x7.com reap the benefits of creating an additional distribution channel to a new client base of library customers, but we will enjoy the benefits afforded by the addition of new revenue-generating content to our highly scalable business models. We will continue to seek additional partnerships such as this that expand both our content offering as well as our critical corporate desktop presence."

Companies Announce First Library Customer

The companies also announced the signing of the University of Toronto's Library System as their initial customer in the library market. The University has currently licensed campus-wide university access privileges to Books24x7.com for its faculty and student body. Now, individuals at the university will have complete access to Books24x7.com's collection of nearly 500 online books and journals, and to the powerful search and personalization functionality that distinguishes Books24x7.com from other online reference services.

"We selected Books24x7.com because it provides superior content, rich on-screen presentation, and powerful searching techniques that are second to none. We are proud of our history of finding and adopting, often earlier than most other universities, the best resources for our students, faculty and staff," said Peter Clinton, director of information technology, library services, for the University of Toronto.

About RoweCom Inc.

A first mover in business-to-business e-commerce, RoweCom Inc. develops and operates Web-based services that enable organizations to manage the acquisition of knowledge resources such as magazines, newspapers, journals and books. RoweCom's flagship services, Knowledge Store (kStore) and Knowledge Library (kLibrary), allow organizations to order, pay for and manage over 200,000 titles online as well as millions of discounted books via RoweCom partner barnesandnoble.com. With clients ranging from Fortune 1000 companies to academic libraries, RoweCom serves organizations with intensive knowledge requirements and high-volume purchases. Faxon, a long-established leader in academic information services, joined RoweCom in October 1999 to offer expanded Internet and e-commerce tools as well as new levels of control, convenience, and cost-savings to their clients. Faxon, RoweCom Academic and Biomedical Services continues its role as an industry leader providing traditional print and e-journal services; budgeting and collection development solutions; high-quality personal service; and cutting-edge web-based services including Subscription Depot, License Depot, and Information Quest (IQ). The publicly held company (Nasdaq: ROWE) is headquartered in Westwood, Mass. and has offices in North America, Europe and Australia as well as a presence in South America, Japan and the Middle East. In December 1999, RoweCom announced plans to acquire NewsEdge Corporation (Nasdaq: NEWZ) in a transaction expected to close in the first half of 2000. Visit the RoweCom Website at www.rowe.com.

About Books24x7.com

Books24x7.com is the online reference service of choice for professionals requiring immediate access to trusted technical information. Launched in 1999 and based in Norwood, MA, the subscription-based online service contains best-of-breed reference materials on more than 100 technical topics from leading publishers such as Macmillan Computer Publishing (Que and Sams), MIT Press, O'Reilly & Associates, McGraw-Hill. Books24x7.com differentiates itself from other online libraries by using advanced, multi-tier searching techniques to sift through the entire collection and quickly pinpoint relevant information at the most granular level. The service is the only online library that enables users to bookmark, annotate, collaborate, and create personalized book collections without being subjected to distracting advertising banners.