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HOME NEWS Latest items Archive MEMBER- SHIP Joining sa2		NEWS ARCHIVE: AUGUST 2005 Pearson creates three el-hi units NEW YORK, August 31, 2005 -- Publishing powerhouse Pearson Education created three new units to accelerate the integration of print and technology resources for the K-12 market. The new units have been drawn from the existing Pearson digital Learning and the Pearson School Group. The new units: Pearson School Technology will develop print and software products for all of Pearson Education. Jack Luynch, who had been president of Pearson Digitgal Learning, is president. Pearson Digital Learning, comprising the basal and suplemental companies of the Pearson School Group, will develop the SuccessMaker Enterprise electronic curriculum system, the Waterford Early Reading and Science programs; the NovaNET online 6-12 curriculum, and the KnowledgeBox K-12 digital larning system. Bob Roliardi, senior vice president of sales and marketing, is presdient. Pearson School Systems will focus of K-12 student performance mangement. Mike Evans, vice presdient of product management for Pearson Digital Lerarning, is president. EL-HI PEARSON TO EARLIER NEWS TO TOP TO HOME TO NEWS ARCHIVE Wiley digitzing journals back to 1799 HOBOKEN, New Jersey, August 30, 2005 -- Academic and professional publisher John Wiley & Sons began a two-year digitizal archive project in 20 fields in its InterScience suite of journals. The journals go back as far as 1799. In all, 7.5 million pages are being dgitized for online access. The project is scheduled for completion in 2007. ACADEMIC JOURNALS WILEY TO EARLIER NEWS TO TOP TO HOME TO NEWS ARCHIVE Strategy move: Kluwer sells Knowledgepoint POINT VEDRA BEACH, Florida, August 27, 2005 -- Academic and profesional publisher Wolters Kluwer sold its 20-year-old human-resources law product unit, Knowledgepoint, to international workforce software publisher and services consultant Recruitmax. Terms were not announced. Kluewer said the divestiture will help it leverage the content of its CCH and Aspen law publishing units. PROFESSIONAL PUBLISHING TO EARLIER NEWS TO TOP TO HOME TO NEWS ARCHIVE McGraw buys Grow Network asessment unit NEW YORK, Florida, August 26, 2005 -- The school assessment measures company, Grow Network, of New York, which has proprietary softwarer, was acquired by McGraw-Hill Education. Terms were not announced. The acquisition will support CTB/McGraw-Hill and other McGraw curriculum assessment operations., McGraw announced. Structurally Grow Network will be in the McGraw School Education Group under the name Grow Network/McGraw Hill. David Coleman was remain as the unit's chief executive. ASSESS- MENT MCGRAW- HILL EDUCATION
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Christian schools cry foul, sue

LOS ANGELES, Calif., August 25, 2005 -- The Association of Christian Schools International, which represents 4,000 private schools nationwide, accused the University of California system of trying to "secularize private Christian schools by discriminating against a Christian viewpoint" and filed a federal lawsut. According to the suit, the University of California system will not accept certain high-school credits from Calvary Chapel Christian School in Murrieta, Calif., because the courses have a Christian slant. The 108-page complaint contends that the university rejected biology and physics courses that used creationist textbooks from Christian publishers A Beka Book Inc. and Bob Jones University Press. The university also disqualified courses in history, literature, and government studies. MORE Ravi Poorsina, a university spokespersn, said that private schools have a righht to select course material but that the university must have entrance requirements that "meet university academic standards." The lawsuit quotes a 2004 letter from Susan Wilbur, the university's director of undergraduate admissions, that a class called Christianity's Influence in America as "too narrow" and specialized. Also, Wibur said that students who take these courses "may not be well prepared" for university success. MORE Another university official was quoted that the content of courses using A Beka and Bob Jones textbooks are "not consistent with the viewpoints and knowledge generally accepted in the scientific community." Bob Jones Univerity Press touts its biology textbook is described as focusing on "biblical integration" while teaching about cellular biology, genetics, and other subjects. It also "presents Christian positions on biotechnology, abortion, evolution, homosexuality, ecology, disease and drugs."

EL-HI PORCH- BATDORF TITLE Too Christian? Two-volume high school text in its third edition is promoted by publisher Bob Jones University Press as a "biblical integration" with cellular biology, genetics, biotechnology, taxonomy, origins, microbiology, botany, zoology, and human anatomy.

Pearson launches home-school sitye

NEW YORK, August 24, 2005 -- The Pearson Education online home-schooling unit, Family Education Network, launched a new site: HomeSchoolNetwork.com . The site carries a wide range of materials for 1.1 million students in home-schooling.

EL-HI PEARSON FAMILY EDUCATION

PEN, Antioch in Los Angeles partnership

Houghton Mifflin partners join again

Sundance-Newbridge expand reading series

School Specialty eyeing Delta purchase

Study rejects textbook rentals as costly

Deadline looms for filing Tasini claims

Riverdeep extends Destination courseware

Publishers spin upbeat on GAO study

WASHINGTON, August 18, 2005 -- The Association of American Publishers endorsed parts of a federal study on college textbooks that concluded that textbook prices have been largely driven by publisher investments in additional instructional materials and new technologies. The publishers' group, however, said that the investments, which have made many textbooks into packages that include text, colorful supplements and software, were made in response to faculty needs and to enhance student success -- not to bloat prices and profits. "Publishers strive to continually develop materials that meet the ever-evolving needs of faculty and students," said Patricia Schroeder, the association's president. "Our colleges are being asked to serve students with diverse learning styles and a wider range of preparedness and skill sets. The publishers' response has been to work with educators to produce new, advanced materials and integrated teaching tools that faculty use to tailor their materials for their students." MORE The study, by the Government Accountability Office, said that add-ons like CD-ROMS and bundled ancillaries have been a major contributor to increases in textbook prices. MORE Schroeder expressed concern that the study's pricing analysis failed to provide a balanced picture of the actual costs of textbooks to students, the range of materials available to students, or the added value those materials offer to faculty and students. MORE Schroeder took exception to a GAO conclusion that students typically spend $900 a year on tetbooks. "Our key concern with GAOšs report is that they relied on data that do not reflect the true cost of books to students," he said. "Two independently derived estimates -- based on actual sales data from the National Association of College Stores and the Association of American Publishers -- confirmed that the average full-time equivalent student actually spends about $580 per year on textbooks, far less than the $898 figure used repeatedly in GAO's report." She said that GAO included the cost of course supplies with books and that the numbers were drawn from unconfirmed estimates by college administrators in a survey. MORE "By combining textbooks and supplies, GAO created an inaccurate picture of the actual cost of textbooks to students," Schroeder said. "Supplies are not just pencils and notebooks. They may include computers, calculators, lab equipment, and other materials that represent at least 27 percent of total student spending on books and supplies." Course supplies are not textbooks, she said. MORE Schroeder faulted GAO for dismissing what she called reliable survey data from Student Monitor showing that average student spending on textbooks increased only about two percent annually between 1999 and 2004. "They did not factor in the amounts of money students receive when they sell their used textbooks," she said. "And when computing the overall cost of textbooks, the GAO did not factor in the increasing use of lower-cost alternatives -- a trend that the Bureau of Labor Statistics noted it did not track before 2001 and still may not be accurately reflected in its data." MORE Still, as Schroeder sees it, the GAO report has a publisher-friendly theme. "As you read through the report, you will find time and again the publishers' primary focus is on meeting the needs of students." Publishers, she said, have responded to price concerns by greatly expanding the number of low-cost texts, including split editions, electronic books, black-and-white editions, custom books, abbreviated editions and complete learning packages. Also, she said, publishers are providing a wider range of instructional supplements, including course-management tools for faculty. "Together, these supplements and management tools enable faculty to teach more students and achieve better results," she said.

TEXT- BOOK PRICING PAT SCHROEDER Publisher association executive

Sandi Kirschner, president of Pearson Addison Wesley Higher Education, was named chief marketing officer of the International and Professinal Publishing Division of Pearson Education. Fredric Martini (anatomy), University of Notre Dame, wrote the seventh edition of Fundamentals of Anatomy and Physiology (Addison-Wesley). Peter H. Smith (music), University of Notre Dame, wrote Expressive Forms in Brahms's Instrumental Music: Structure and Meaning in His Werther Quartet (Indiana University Press). Steven W. Stahler, University of California at Berekley, (astronomy) Francesco Palla, INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Arcetri, (astronomy) wrote The Formation of Stars (Wiley).

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Pearson tabs Van Dam for digital rile

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona. August 18, 2005 -- A past president of the International Society for Technology in Education, Janet Van Dam, was named director of instructional services by Pearson Digital Learning. Van Dam will oversee the company's education consultants, curriculum specialists and field trainers for K-12 standards-based digital curriculum programs.

PEARSON DIGITAL LEARNING

Charge: Study messed up textbook data

NEW YORK August 18, 2005 -- A government study purporting that college students spend $900 a year on textbooks is "greatly exaggertated," according to Bruce Hildebrand of the Association of American Publishers. Hildebrand said the Government Accountability Office came up with the $898 by lumping textbooks together with supplies, like computers, that students purchase for college. Students average more like $580 for textbooks, he said. Hildebrand cited data from the College Board. He called the GAO figure "an apples-to-oranges comparison." MORE Hildebrand found fault too with the GAO report's implication that software and other educational tools often bundled with textbooks have jacked up the price needlessly. Bundled items can help students learn, he said. The real issue should be less the cost of textbooks than how textbooks factor into the overall cost of college, he said. He called the report disappointing. Background: Wu triumphant in sidewalk news conference

TEXT- BOOK PRICING American of American Publishers

CyberKey new player in e-book technology

Wu triumphant in sidewalk news conference

PORTLAND, Oregon, August 17, 2005 -- Congressman David Wu, long a critic of textbook pricing, called a news conference in front of the campus bookstore at Portland State University to release the findings of a Government Accountability Office report on the rise in textbook prices. "The GAO report confirms what students have shared with me over the past few years: Textbook prices are increasing and are a growing financial burden as they pursue higher education," Wu said. "At a time when families and students are struggling with the soaring costs of tuition and the declining buying power of financial aid, it is important that Congress continues to build on my efforts of the past year and look at ways to ease this burden." The report follows Wu's request in March 2004 for a federal investigation into the cost of textbooks and the publishing industry. MORE Wu, a Democrat, has found a campus following since 2003 when he latched on to news reports that U.S. students sometimes pay much more than overseas students for identical textbooks published in the United States. Although those reports were misleading, Wu nonetheless told his Portland gathering that he has pursued legislation and requested the Government Accountability Office investigation. At a July hearing on the College Access and Opportunity Act, Wu said, he offered an amendment that lists specific steps for textbook publishers, faculty, bookstores and institutions of higher education to make textbooks more affordable. The amendment was accepted, he reported. MORE Also, Wu said he recently persuaded the House Education Committee to ask the U.S. Department of Education's Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance to investigate rising textbook prices. Wu called the committee an appropriate vehicle to make further recommendations to Congress, publishers, bookstores, colleges, faculty and students on what they can do to make textbooks more affordable. Background: PIRG crusader lauds textbook study

TEXT- BOOK PRICING David Wu

McGraw converts 150 texts into e-books

NEW YORK, August 16, 2005 -- Publisher McGraw-Hill eupgraded its offerings of digital editions for college students to download at less than cost than a new book in hbard form. McGraw called the products "a student-friendly, interactive, lower-cost option to the traditional textbook." The new offerings, available for fall semester, include 150 titles at about half the cost of a print textbook. The books expand on a program announced a year ago. In that program, after being caught off-guard by rival Pearson and Thomson's forays into e-editions, McGraw quickly drew on its Primis database to offer 900 titles for online leasing. MORE In the new initative, involving only one-sixth as many books to start, Zinio, a digital publishing services, did the technical work to convert 150 books into exact replicas of the print version. The McGraw-Zinio alliance combines "the best of technology with our content to improve learning, and providing students with economical alternatives to traditional print materials," said McGraw. Books have pages that can be "turned," text that can be highlighted, and notes that can be easily inserted, McGraw said. Also, the company said, the online editions have full-text search capability, web links, audio and video. In addition, pages may be printed in high resolution and full color. MORE Available are McGraw books in business, economics, engineering, humanities, mathe, science, social sciences and world languages. To order and download a title, students go to the Zinio website Once a student downloads the ebook, it can accessed anywhere that computer goes, online or offline. MORE Richard Maggiotto, Zinio Book Division president, said the McGraw alliance represents Zinio's first expansion beyond magazine publishing. "It makes sense for us to leverage the same consumer-oriented approach, tools and infrastructure we used to win the magazine publishing market and apply them to textbooks," Maggiatto said.

TEXT- BOOKS TECH- NOLOLGY MCGRAW- HILL HIGHER EDUCATION

PIRG crusader lauds textbook study

LOS ANGELES, Calif., August 16, 2005 -- A leader in the campaign to cut textbook prices, Merriah Fairchild, applauded a new federal study that attributed pricing increases mostly to bundling and other textbook add-ons. "The findings of this report support what we've been saying for two years," Fairchild said. She called the report "hard-hitting and conclusive." Her organization, the California Public Interest Group, has argued that most professors don't make use of the supplementary items and that such add-ons are simply a way for publishers to justify higher prices. "In our surveying of faculty, 65 percent said they rarely or never used the bundled materials in their courses," she said. Fairchild concurred with the Goverment Accountability Office report that students are averaging $900 a year on textbooks, representing 26 percent of tuition and fees at four-year public colleges. The report confirms, said Gairchild, "one, that textbook prices are a significant college cost; two, that textbook prices are skyrocketing; and three, that publishers' practices contribute to the high costs of textbooks." Background: Textbook price study blames add-ons

TEXT- BOOK PRICING Government Accountablity Office

McGraw buys TurnLeaf Solutions

NEW YORK, August 16, 2005 -- Schoolbook publisher McGraw-Hill Education bought TurnLeaf Solutions, a provider of customized online reporting and data analysis for school administrators and teachers to track styudent progress. Terms were not disclosed. TurnLeaf's technology strengthens McGraw-Hill's Assessment and Reporting businesses by providing school districts with more detailed student performance data that can easily be analyzed and compared for reporting purposes, McGraw said uin an announcement. TurnLeaf has 19 employees in Littleton, Colo. The flagship product is the Achievement Management System.

EL-HI MCGRAW- HILL EDUCATION

Textbook price study blames add-ons

WASHINGTON, August 15, 2005 -- Supplementary items bundled with college textbooks, like computer software, have driven prices up at twice the rate of inflation over the past 20 years, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office. The report, leaked ahead of its official release, fell short of faulting publishers. The report said publishers have responded to market demands and invested heavily to expand the scope of their products, including expensive supplements like online courseware. The report did not attempt to answer whether these developments are good or bad for students. MORE The report found that textbook prices have increased 186 percent since 1986. That's less than 240 pecent for college tuition and fees but far more than 72 percent for consumer prices. On average, full-time students at a four-year college spend almost $900 annually on textbooks, or about 26 percent of the total cost of tuition and fees, the report said. Students at two-year institutions spend a similar amount, although books are a much larger chunk -- 72 percent -- of their college costs.

TEXT- BOOK PRICING Government Accountablity Office

Women's journal on rocky road to Baltimore

AMES, Iowa, Agust 15, 2005 -- Subscribers to the Journal of Women's History may not have noticied much difference when the journal switched Johns Hopkins University Press, but the switch, from Indiana University Press, was unexpectedly difficult for the journal's managers. The journal's co-founder, Christie Farnham Pope of Iowa State University, said she at one point considered a lawsuit over questions like who owns the copyright to the first 15 volumes, which were published under the Indiana Press rubric. Now Pope is trying to resolve issues with a law firm that has volunteered pro bono to negotiate a settlement. MORE Problems began, said Pope, when Indiana declined to forward a susbcription list unless $20,000 was paid. The list of current subscribers eventually was provided so the first Johns Hopkins issue, in February 2004, could be distributed. A list of former susbcribers, however, remains at Indiana. At Indiana, Press Director Janet Rabinowich said she merely wants to recover its investment to get the journal started in 1989 and nurtured over the years. Rabinowich acknowledged feeling "aggrieved" over the switch. MORE Pope responds that Indiana fully recovered its investment over the 15 years it handled the journal. Pope acknowledged, though, that she and co-founder John Hoff may have been naive about the business of journal publishing when they created the journal. They thought, for example, that the nonprofit corporation they created for the journal owned the copyright. It tursn out now that Indiana University Press contends it holds the rights.

ACADEMIC JOURNALS Not an easy transition

Pearson foresees 19% K-12 growth

NEW YORK, Aug. 14, 2005 -- In a projection for sharholders, Pearson said it expects its school sales to grow by double digits for the full year 2005. In the first half the K-23 growth was 19 percent. For higher-ed, Pearson projected a 4% gain.

PEARSON EDUCATION

Publishers: Google moratorium insufficient

WASHINGTON, August 12, 2005 -- The president of the Association of American Publishers, Patricia Schroeder, said a three-month moratorium by Google on its library-scanning project is not enough. "Google's announcement does nothing to relieve the publishing industry's concerns," said Schroeder, noting it seems the Google is declining to work with publishers for a system that allows digitizing selected titles for online access on a limited basis pursuant to licenses or permission from publishers. Instead, she said, Google is proceeding with parts of its project to scan the entire content of five major academic libraries -- except for currently protected works for a period ending November 1. "Google Print Library Project is digitally reproducing copyrighted works to support Google's sale of advertising in connection with its online search business operations without corresponding participation or approval by the copyright holders," Schroeder said. MORE Schroeder was specifically critical of Google's proposed compromise to not digitize when participating libraries are informed by copyright owners that permission is denied. "Google's procedure shifts the responsibility for preventing infringement to the copyright owner rather than the user, turning every principle of copyright law on its ear," said Schroeder. MORE In separate initatives, Google has entered agreements with some individual publishers that give publishers a cut of advertising revenue. Background: Google freezes library scan project

TECH- NOLOGY Google Association of American Publishers

Leapfrog Sales grew 19 percent to $80.8 million in the second quarter, which ended June 30, compared to a year earlier. Education and training sales up up 47.7 percent to $13.1 million.

McGraw-Hill Ryerson. School division sales fell 16.1 percent to C$9.3 million in the first half, ended June 30, compared to a year earlier. Trade, professional and medical division rose 13.5 percent to C$4.2 million. College sales were flat at C$11.4 million.

Pearson. Revenue grew 14 percent to $2.8 billion for the first half of 2005, compared to a year earlier, including recent acquisitions. K-12 sales rose grew 19 percent to $927.2 million. College sales were up 5 percent to $344 million.Professional sales gained 12 percent to $434 million.

Google freezes library scan project

MOUNTAIN VIEW, California, August 11, 2005 -- The Google search engine company, which is expanding its web presence rapidly, pulled the plug at least for now on a major part of its project to scan the entire contents of five major academic libraries. Adam Smith, a senior business-product manager, announced that the company had stopped scanning works whose copyright is active. Smith acknowledged complaints by publishers, which control most authors' copyrights. "A number of them have had concerns with particular titles," Smith said. "We wanted to provide them the opportunity to tell us when they didn't want us to scan particular volumes." MORE The issue is whether Google, in displaying only a snippet at a time, is infringing on the property rights of copyright owners. Google contends that it is copying the entire content of works only for indexing purposes and that iyt makes only small portions available online. This, says Google, is consistent with the fair-use exemption allowed for using small parts of a copyright-protected work without permission from the owner. Publishers have countered that making a digital copy of a book to create an index requires the permission of the book's copyright holder. MORE Google has been in discussions with publishers in recent months without resolution. Patricia Schroeder, president of the Association of American Publishers, has issued a policy statement: "The U.S. publishing industry, through the Association of American Publishers, continues to express to Google grave misgivings about the Google Print Library Project and specifically the project's unauthorized copying and distribution of copyright-protected works. Their procedure places the responsibility for preventing infringement on the copyright owner rather than the user, and turns every principle of copyright on its ear." The Association of American University Presses has stated similar misgivings. MORE What this means for authors: The duration of copyright protection, before a work enters the public domain, has been juggled by Congress through history. This is the current status: Works created in 1978 and later: Life of the author plus 70 years. Or 75 years from publication of 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter, for works made for hire, by corporate authorship, by anonymous sources or under pseudonyms. Created but not published before 1978: Life of author plus 70 years or until 2003, whichever is longer. Created before 1978 and published before 2003: Life of author plus 70 years or to 2047, whiever is longer. Published from 1964 to 1977: 28 years plus automatic renewal for 67 years: 95 years total. Published from 1923 to 1963: 28 years with renewal option for 67 years: 95 years total. Published before 1923: All these works now in public domain. Background: French fret at a global Googlization

TECH- NOLOGY Google Partici- pating libraries: New York Public Library Harvard University University of Michigan Oxford University Stanford University

Pearson leads el-hi sales

E-texts being tested at college stores

Elsevier buys MediMedia health titles

Reed leads in U.S. professional sales

McGraw sees "a very good year"

NEW YORK, August 5, 2005 -- For shareholders "a very good year is taking shape," publisher McGraw-Hill said in a mid-fiscal year report. For the K-12 school division, sales shot up 17 percent for teh first half-year, which ended June 30, compared to a year earlier. The company credited the banner performance on state adoptions, sales in other sales, and testing. The K-12 sales totaled $414.4 million. State-level adoptions in Florida and Alabama boosted the K-12 figures, and Texas is expected to put an additional $295 million into instructional materials during McGraw's fiscal year, the company said. The company's college, professional and international units grew 10.9 percent to $214.2 million in the first half.

MCGRAW- HILL

Scholastic updates online Grolier

Professional sales surge in June

NEW YORK, August 3, 2004 -- Sales of professional and scholarly books soared 21.3 percent in June, , compared to a year earlier, reaching $58.3 million, according to the latest data from the Association of American Publishers. College sales grew 3.2 percent in June to $207.8 million. El-hi gained 6.3 percent with sales of $641.3 million. University press hardcover books suffered a 56.3 percent loss in June with sales only $7.1 million. University press paperbacks lost 53.8 percent, down to $19.7 million. Here are the year-to-date data for genres in which academic authors write the most, as extrapolated from 92 reporting publishers: May 21.3% 6.3% 3.2% -33.8% -56.3% Year- to-date 6.3% 5.0% 4.7% -14.5 23.9

Association of American Publishers EARLIER ARTICLE Previous monthly sales report Databank index

Gary June, chief sales and marketing officer at Pearson Eucation, International and Professoionsl, was named chief executive officer at Dorling Kindersley. Mary Ellen Lepionka (books), Atlantic Path Publishing, wrote Self-Publishing Textbooks and Instructional Materials (Atlantic Path). Theodore Mitchell, president at Occidental College was named chief executive at NewScho0ols Venture Fund. Peter Osnos, publisher at Perseus Public Affairs, was named editor-at-large.

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Pearson remains largest U.S. college house

4GL to buy Tranquility Solutions