E&P Going On Line p. 13

By: Editorial Staff Editor & Publisher Co. and Houston-based Telescan Inc. have agreed to develop and operate an on-line information network using Telescan software and data from E&P's weekly magazine and directories.
The network is designed to make New York-based E&P's printed products available to a wider audience, and with the added utility that electronic format provides.
"Our customers have been asking for electronic access to our information for years,"" said D. Colin Phillips, E&P's manager of special publications. ""It's clear, as newspapers are becoming aware, that the future of print media will increasingly be tied to electronic distribution. E&P is committed to being part of that future.""
The service will allow subscribers to retrieve information from Editor & Publisher magazine, the Editor & Publisher International Yearbook and the Editor & Publisher Market Guide and to communicate with one another electronically.
Phillips said he envisioned the service as a ""communications network for the entire newspaper industry"" that will link papers to equipment vendors, advertising agencies and public relations firms.
The network should be operational by December, he said. It will eventually allow anyone with a personal computer an modem to tap into the system.
Users will pay either a monthly fee for unlimited use of one-time charges each time they use the service, he said.
Telescan chairman and chief executive officer David L. Brown said the principal advantages of his company's software is that it is aimed at commercial customers, as opposed to individual consumers.
"Other systems are simply for retrieving information,"" he said. ""We're designed for people who want to talk to each other.""
The companies said the Telescan-E&P network will allow reporters and editors to research news stories; publishers to find out about equipment, supplies and prices; vendors to target potential newspaper customers; public relations companies to direct press releases; and advertising groups to research market for their ad campaigns.
A ""relevant search"" feature enables subscribers to detail the information they seek, instead of searching key words to find a general list of references.
For example, Phillips said, a newspaper looking to buy a color scanner would be able to search the database of scanners installed at newspapers to find which are the most popular. Then they could access information from the vendors to find out more.
"The tools we've developed are for mining information,"" Brown said. ""IT's one thing to load up information on a computer. Providing tools for getting at that data, for using it, for making decision with it is our area of expertise.""
The system also sorts electronic mail according to the subscriber's direction. That way, requested information by-passes unsolicited ""junk mail.""
Telescan already maintains information networks for financial institutions, scientific research groups and the construction industry, and subscribers to E*&P's service will be able to access those networks, Brown said.
Telescan has developed systems for BPI Publications, publishers of Billboard and the Hollywood Reporter; the Brokerage firms Charles Schwab and Fidelity Investments; and the American Institute of Architects.
Editor & Publisher, founded in 1901 but incorporating publications dating from 1884, bills itself as the only independent weekly journal of newspapering. The YearBook, published annually, contains an array of information about newspapers, including staffing, equipment, advertising and format. It also lists trade organizations, media companies, syndicates, news services and companies that supply equipment, material and services to the newspaper industry.
The market Guide, also published annually, provides demographic data about media markets around the country.
The weekly magazine, besides regular coverage of the newspaper business, publishes a directory of syndicates and news services, plus special sections devoted to such topics as newspapers and the environment, color in newspapers, and trademarks and the press. All will be available through the network, Phillips said.
nE&P

DATE: Sat 21-Aug-1993
PUBLICATION: Editor & Publisher
CATEGORY: Correction
AUTHOR: Editorial Staff
LOCATION: Page 7

QUICK WORDS:

correction editor & publisher on-line information services telescan relevant search optimum

FULL TEXT:

Correction p.

A STORY ANNOUNCING Editor & Publisher Co.'s on-line services (Aug. 14, p. 13) gave an incorrect example of a ""relevant"" search. The example of a newspaper shopping for a color scanner was an ""optimum"" search, one of several kinds of searches to be available.