John Wiley &Sons has launched the commercial version of Wiley InterScience, its online journals service that the company began testing in fall 1997 (News, Sept. 15, 1997). Unlike the pilot edition, which was open to anyone who registered, the commercial site will be limited to subscribers to Wiley's various journals. Subscribers will receive the online edition at no extra charge to their print subscription, although Wiley will offer an enhanced access license for an additional fee.
Approximately 300 of Wiley's journals are now available through InterScience. Wiley president William Pesce noted that the service has been "redesigned to be more intuitive, faster and more efficient for the user." The enhancements include the capability to download, view, save and transmit to a third party single copies of journal articles as well as the option to create personal home pages to store customized searches and links to journals and articles. InterScience will also be linked to the Institute for Scientific Information's ISI Web of Science service.
Joint Venture with Intel
Elsewhere at Wiley, the publisher announced a joint venture agreement with Intel Corp. through which the two companies will publish a series of books to be marketed under the Intel University Press name. First titles are due out in mid-1999 and will focus on three areas: system design and implementation tutorials/reference guides; compliance tests and specifications; and recommended practices for performance management and systems operations.
Wiley is also still enjoying its placement as one of the world's most admired companies in a survey conducted of CEOs in 53 countries by the Financial Times. Among the criteria used to rank the companies were strong and well-thought-out strategy, maximizing customer satisfaction and loyalty and quality of products.
Results Improve
On the financial front, Wiley reported that sales for the third quarter ended January 31, 1999, rose 11% to $138 million. Net income in the period, excluding unusual items, rose 50% to $13.4 million. The company reported that all three of its core groups contributed to the improvement, led by Wiley's professional and trade and college divisions, which posted double-digit gains through the first nine months of the year. Pesce said he expects the company's strong performance to continue for the remainder of fiscal 1999.
