The Healthcare and Science business of Thomson Reuters has announced that Egyptian Universities Libraries (EUL) has selected Thomson Reuters to provide research solutions to their consortium of university libraries. EUL signed a multi-year contract with Thomson Reuters to provide Egypt's researcher's access to ISI Web of Knowledge.

  TBI Communications, a strategic marketing consultancy for scholarly publishers, recently launched ‘Perfect 10’, a viral marketing campaign on behalf of medical publisher BMJ Group. Targeting about 250,000 initial recipients, the campaign is projected as the first major use of viral marketing technologies in the reference information sector. It takes the form of a quiz designed to test clinical practitioners’ medical knowledge and encourage them to ‘challenge a friend’.

  STM publisher Elsevier and the American Medical Association (AMA) have announced an exclusive agreement to co-publish International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) and Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) manuals by Carol J. Buck, beginning with the 2010 editions, in fall 2009. Both product lines will be supported by exclusive free companion web sites offering access to the latest updates, coding tips and links to other valuable coding resources.

  Candover and Cinven, the private equity (PE) companies that own media group Springer Science and ­Business Media, have reportedly put the company up for sale with a price tag of £2 billion. If the sale takes place, it will mark one of the biggest transactions in any sector so far this year. While media reports say Springer could fetch up to £2 billion from financial or trade buyers, the current economic crisis could make it difficult for potential bidders to meet that price.

  Academic and professional literature publisher Emerald Group Publishing Ltd has announced a 5-year deal with CASPUR (Consorzio Interuniversitario per le Applicazioni di Supercalcolo per Università e Ricerca) Inter-University Consortium for the Application of Super-Computing for Universities and Research. The agreement provides CASPUR’s 27 members with the possibility of electronic access to 17 journals which are included in the Library and Information Studies collection.

  EMpact Sales (EMpact), the publisher representation group of EBSCO Information Services, has signed an agreement with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) PUBLISHING to serve as the exclusive sales and marketing representative. Under the deal, EMpact will promote 23 scientific-based, peer-reviewed journals for CSIRO PUBLISHING, in both print and electronic format, in South Korea and Latin America, including Mexico, Central America, South America and the Caribbean, including Puerto Rico.

  Publishing services provider GLC Custom Publishing has announced a new custom publishing partnership with OrthoCarolina, one of the most comprehensive and prestigious orthopedic practices in the US. Fall 2008 was GLC’s first issue of a consumer and referring physician magazine, OrthoCarolina, for this physician group. A complete redesign for this advertising supported magazine is planned for the Spring issue.

  STM publisher Springer has announced the launch a new journal, Applied Geomatics. The journal will be the official publication of the Italian Society of Photogrammetry and Topography (SIFET). Professor Alessandro Capra of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia has been appointed Editor-in-Chief.

  Healthcare information provider SLACK Incorporated, publisher of Orthopaedics Today Europe, recently announced a partnership with the European Federation of National Associations of Orthopaedics and Traumatology (EFORT). The affiliation emerged from the organisations' mutual interest in advancing the education of orthopaedic surgeons, making Orthopaedics Today Europe the official newspaper of the organisation.

  Serials Solutions, a business unit of ProQuest has announced that the Gelman Library System at George Washington University has chosen the AquaBrowser Unified Discovery Interface to provide patrons with enhanced access to the library's entire collection. The AquaBrowser unified discovery interface gives patrons the ability to search all indexed content with a single query, regardless of format or where the content is located within the library.

  STM publisher Thieme Publishing Group has announced the availability of Science of Synthesis Version 3.7. Science of Synthesis provides a comprehensive critical treatment of synthetic organic chemistry and is one of the most authoritative, in-depth information resources available on synthetic methodology. This upgraded version brings two more volumes online.

  Safari Books Online, a US-based e-reference joint venture between publishers O'Reilly Media, Inc. and Pearson Technology Group, has announced that it has expanded into German-speaking markets by launching the Safari Books Online German Basic Tech Library. The German Basic Tech Library currently offers over 200 titles for corporate teams with German-speaking developers and IT professionals and will grow by several hundred additional titles by the end of 2009.

  E-book technology firm ebrary has announced that customers can now use the Shibboleth authentication system to access any of the company’s integrated products. These include e-books licensed under subscription and purchase models; ASP e-publishing services for distributing digitised documents online; and ISIS, its standalone e-publishing system that runs on customers’ servers, behind their firewalls. Shibboleth allows libraries and other organisations to control and manage individual access to protected online resources offered by the institution, third-party vendors, or both. End-users can be authenticated for multiple electronic resources using a single username and password.

  Subscription services provider Swets has announced that its comprehensive decision support solution, SwetsWise Selection Support, has completed Beta Testing and is now available to order. SwetsWise Selection Support has been designed to help librarians and other information professionals make better informed decisions about their electronic resources.

  CT Corsearch, a provider of clearance and protection solutions for trademark and brand professionals, has announced the availability of the latest version of Corsearch Advantage, its collection of trademark databases. The latest release provides users with a variety of new screening capabilities. It encompasses the addition of five new countries — Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay and Hong Kong — as well as the ability to refine Pharmaceutical Screenings by geographic location.

  Healthcare publisher Lippincott Williams & Wilkins (LWW), part of Wolters Kluwer Health, has announced that it has added a new behavioral health module to the comprehensive suite offered in Lippincott's Nursing Procedures and Skills, its premier online tool for nurses at the point of care. This evidence-based clinical reference serves as a staff reference and development tool and provides support for facilities seeking American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Magnet accreditation.

  Symyx Technologies, Inc., a provider of technologies for R&D, has announced the release of the latest version of its enterprise electronic lab notebook (ELN), Symyx Notebook. Version 6.2 of the product supplements existing functionality for analytical chemistry research and biology with new capabilities supporting synthetic and medicinal chemistry investigations by adding Symyx chemical representation, chemical reaction, and compound registration capabilities.

  The Association of Research Libraries (ARL) has launched a new web site for its latest assessment tool, ClimateQUAL: Organizational Climate and Diversity Assessment, offered through the StatsQUAL platform. The site aims to provide information and useful resources for past, current, and potential ClimateQUAL participants. ClimateQUAL is a joint project of the University of Maryland Industrial/Organizational Psychology Program and ARL.

  Library solutions provider Ex Libris Group has announced the release of version 4.3 of its MetaLib gateway and metasearch solution. Over 35 major enhancements, originating largely from requests of the MetaLib user community, focus on further streamlining staff workflows to maximise efficiency and reduce the total cost of ownership. Used in nearly 50 countries worldwide, MetaLib seeks to provide powerful yet flexible management tools that can be easily adapted to customers’ local environments and practices.

  Market research and data services provider Research and Markets has announced the addition of the Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Part G: Journal of Aerospace Engineering subscription to their offering. Published eight times a year, the Journal of Aerospace Engineering is a forum for the communication of ideas and methods presently in use at the forefront of technology in the field of aerospace engineering.

  STM publisher Elsevier has launched Klopotek’s PPM (Product Planning and Management) system for the first group of their Science and Technology book titles in the US, the UK, and India. Klopotek PPM replaced the existing software systems with a centralised database solution integrating the classical publishing business with innovative business models in the areas of electronic products and content delivery.

  The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has published ‘Enhancing learning and teaching through the use of technology – a revised approach to HEFCE’s strategy for e-learning’. This revised approach follows an independent review of the strategy and is designed to provide further support to higher education institutions as they develop their own e-learning strategies.

  The Association of Online Publishers (AOP) has announced the results of the seventh annual AOP Census survey. The results reveal that UK online publishers predict a 16 percent growth in their digital revenues in 2009 – with digital revenues defined as income generated from various sources including online advertising (eg: display, classified, search); subscriptions; paid content, e-commerce, sponsorship and commercial content. The census was conducted from February 9 to March 2, 2009.

  The Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishing (ALPSP), the international trade association for scholarly and professional publishers, is seeking proposals to carry out a study of scholarly publishing practice by academic book publishers with a particular focus on online publication. ALPSP has carried out three similar surveys of policies and practices related to online journal publishing which were conducted in 2003, 2005 and 2008.

  Online technology provider in scholarly publishing HighWire Press, a division of the Stanford University Libraries, has announced that HighWire-hosted journals account for 37 of the top 100 journals in Biology and Medicine, according to SLA’s BioMedical & Life Sciences Division. In conjunction with SLA’s Centennial, the division conducted a poll to identify the 100 most influential journals of Biology & Medicine over the last 100 years. HighWire-hosted journals made up the single largest group among the 100 selected.

  Current Medical Research and Opinion (CMRO), an international, peer-reviewed clinical research journal published by Informa Healthcare, has developed, and will soon institute, a formal Transparency Policy. Under the new CMRO policy, readers will be provided with any relevant financial relationships of its staff, editor-in-chief, editorial board members, international advisory board members, authors and peer reviewers to the content contained within each journal issue. The policy will go into full effect from the June 2009 issue onwards.

  STM publisher Elsevier has announced the launch of Innovation Explorers, an online community of 300 researchers from 69 countries. Through online activities ranging from facilitated chats to one-on-one interviews, the members will help the global publisher identify, design and deliver relevant products and services that resonate with and inspire research scientists around the world.

  Academic publisher SAGE has announced the launch of Methodspace.com, a public social network for discussion of research methods online. Methodspace aims to bring together researchers from across the academic spectrum looking for support and advice on any aspect of methodology. The site was launched to a private beta audience in February 2009.

  PLoS ONE, a free online journal published by open access publisher Public Library of Science (PLoS), has announced the launch of everyONE, a new community blog for PLoS ONE authors and readers. The blog is for authors who have published with the journal as well as for those who haven't.

  WebJunction, an online learning community for librarians and library staff, is now offering a Custom Course Catalog, a new service that provides a central location to host, promote and track library staff training. In February, LibraryU, a provider of online, library-specific staff development courses, joined the WebJunction catalogue. The topics added include web-based reference, marketing, library management, shelving, cataloging, readers advisory and children's services.

  STM publisher Elsevier has announced that Biomaterials, a leading journal in the field of biomaterials science, will host Biomaterials Asia 2009. Under the chairmanship of Professor David Williams, Editor-in-Chief of Biomaterials, the conference programme will focus on the interface between advanced materials science and biological science, bringing the latest expertise in advanced medical engineering, clinical sciences and regenerative medicine under one roof.

  Multimedia publisher and events producer Physicians' Continuing Education (PCE) has announced the appointment of James J. Gormley as editor of the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology (JDD). Gormley brings with him 20 years of healthcare communication, publication management, and scientific affairs experience.

  Academic and professional literature publisher Emerald Group Publishing Ltd. has announced the appointment of Alastair Cook as business manager for Middle East and Turkey. Alastair will be working alongside Brian Berry, who has represented Emerald for a number of years within the region, enabling him to meet existing and prospective customers.

  Publisher John Wiley & Sons, Inc. has announced the appointment of Stephen M. Smith as Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, effective May 1, 2009. In his new position, Smith will be responsible for the overall direction and leadership of Wiley’s global publishing businesses. He will continue to report to William J. Pesce, President and Chief Executive Officer.