Weekly News Digest

Elsevier (http://www.elsevier.com) announced the launch of a new drug tracking and analysis tool, Inteleos. To meet the requirements of business intelligence, market research, and business development professionals, Elsevier developed a database of more than 8,000 drugs and 1,200 pharmaceutical and biotech companies. The database also includes medical conference news from Elsevier's IMNG, weekly updates from The Pink Sheets, and ontology files of 1.25 million terms to enhance searching.

With Inteleos, users can track and analyze drug activity from late-phase preclinical development through to launch and post-marketing studies. Users can also monitor licensing or merger and acquisition activities with ease. The product is designed to offer a unique combination of features and functionality to help users save valuable time and increase efficiency. The Inteleos editorial team adheres to strict editorial guidelines. The database is updated daily using only primary sources direct from drug companies, regulatory agencies, or financial filings.

A select group of customers will have immediate access to Inteleos. The database will be available commercially in May 2006.

Source: Elsevier

To assist libraries with patron outreach, library marketing, and collection development, NoveList, a division of EBSCO Publishing (http://www.epnet.com), announced the launch of the NextReads e-mail newsletter service (http://www.nextreads.com). Built on the NoveList product suite, NextReads is a subscription-based e-mail readers' advisory and library marketing service. This service provides libraries with more than 20 customizable subject and genre-specific title lists that target the areas of greatest customer demand and interest.

Lists provided by NextReads contain new and midlist titles, selected to maximize use of a library's current holdings, as well as prepublication titles to guide collection development. Each NextReads newsletter will carry a library's own branding and messaging, designed to give libraries additional opportunities to promote collections and services to customers.

The NextReads newsletter lists are created by librarians and readers' advisory specialists using library holdings, reviews, and a variety of other sources. Each issue of NextReads is sent to subscribing libraries 60 days ahead of actual delivery to patrons, allowing for collection review and order placement, if desired. In addition, current Baker & Taylor customers will be able to link directly from the advanced newsletter copy to Title Source 3 to order any titles not yet found in their own collection. Libraries also have the option to edit each newsletter prior to patron delivery in order to tailor the content to reflect local holdings or to add library event or program information. Delivery of newsletters is monthly or bimonthly. The NextReads application may also be used by libraries to create and deliver locally created newsletters featuring "Staff Picks" lists or even book club selections.

Source: EBSCO Publishing

Thomson Gale (http://www.gale.com), part of the Thomson Corp., has teamed up with Experian (http://www.experian.com), a global information solutions company, to provide Experian's BizInfo Online to public and academic libraries. BizInfo Online is a subscription-based research tool that delivers verified data about U.S. businesses. Thomson Gale will offer the solution in spring 2006.

BizInfo Online is powered by Experian's National Business Database, a source of small- and medium-sized business information with more than 16 million records. The solution allows users to research competitors, possible acquisition targets, potential customers, as well as conduct individual company searches. Users also can search within a specific category, such as geography or industry, to create customized lists or statistical distributions used in business plans or other analyses.

Source: Thomson Gale