ITI announces acquisition
As part of a cooperative effort with Cambridge Scientific Abstracts to purchase R.R. Bowker from Reed Elsevier, Information Today Inc. (ITI), KMWorld’s parent company, has acquired the publishing rights to a line of Bowker reference products.
Cambridge has completed a transaction that transfers ownership of R.R. Bowker from Reed Elsevier to Cambridge. Immediately upon closure of that deal, Information Today acquired ownership of a number of Bowker reference titles from Cambridge.
ITI will now become the official owner and publisher of what Bowker called its “directory” products. These directories serve the library, publishing, bookselling and AV markets and include the following titles: Literary Market Place, International Literary Market Place, American Book Trade Directory, American Library Directory, Annual Register of Grant Support, The Bowker Annual Library and Book Trade Almanac, Library Resource Guide, AV Marketplace and American Men & Women of Science. A number of backlisted titles were acquired as well and will be reviewed for possible publication in the future.
Information Today is a publisher and conference organizer in the library and information industry. While the company is widely known in as a leader in the industry, this acquisition serves to strengthen its line of reference products, as well as extending the company’s position into the publishing and bookselling market. Tom Hogan Sr., president of Information Today, says, “These Bowker titles are among the most respected reference works in our field, and we are delighted to be the new publisher. We are pleased to be inheriting a dedicated and skilled editorial staff that knows how to get high-quality products out the door. We hope this acquisition will serve as a springboard to additional products and services for the library and book trade communities.”
Cambridge is acquiring the lion’s share of the R.R. Bowker assets and will continue to do business under the Bowker brand. The Cambridge purchase includes the publishing rights to the flagship Books In Print family of products, Ulrich’s Periodical Directory, Library and Information Science Abstracts and a number of other reference, abstracting and indexing, and periodical products.
For more information on this acquisition or Information Today please contact ITI at 800-300-9868 (outside the U.S. call 609-654-6266), e-mail custserv@infotoday.com, or visit the ITI Web site.