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Weekly News Digest
August 27, 2007 — In addition to this week's NewsBreaks article and the monthly NewsLink Spotlight, Information Today, Inc. (ITI) offers Weekly News Digests that feature recent product news and company announcements. Watch for additional coverage to appear in the next print issue of Information Today. For other up-to-the-minute news, check out ITI’s Twitter account: @ITINewsBreaks. CLICK HERE to view more Weekly News Digest items.

Swets Sold to Dutch Investment Firm Gilde

Boudewijn Molenaar, managing director of Gilde, said: "The Swets management team has a proven track record in delivering material improvements in the performance of the business over time. The fact that the senior management has partnered with us in acquiring this business reflects their commitment and belief in the future growth opportunities of the company. In addition to continuing Swets’ highly effective strategy, we aim to further expand the business in both new and existing markets, and with new services. We look forward to working with Swets as it continues to grow and prosper."

With funds under management in excess of €1 billion, Gilde Buy Out Partners is a mid-market buy-out investor with a geographical focus on the Benelux, Germany, France, and Switzerland. The company has offices in Utrecht, Paris, and Zurich.

Scholarly Publishers Launch PRISM Coalition

The coalition was formed in response to legislative efforts to mandate that peer-reviewed articles resulting from government-funded research be made available at no cost. (In July, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a measure directing the National Institutes of Health—NIH; www.nih.gov—to provide free public online access to agency-funded research findings within 12 months of their publication in a peer-reviewed journal. The Senate is considering a similar measure. See http://newsbreaks.infotoday.com/wndReader.asp?ArticleId=37022.)

Featured on the PRISM site are backgrounders on peer review, dissemination and access, preservation of the scholarly record, and new approaches publishers are taking. There is also discussion about the risks of government intervention to the sustainability of peer review, copyright infringement, the possibility of selective bias in the record of science, federal budget uncertainties, and inefficient allocation of government funding that duplicates private sector investments. The site provides information to assist the public in making their concerns known to Congress. Anyone who wishes to sign on to the PRISM Principles may do so on the site.

Source: Association of American Publishers

Critical Mention Adds Real-Time Radio

Critical Mention’s integration of radio allows users to search, track, and listen to the most popular radio news stations and nationally syndicated radio broadcasting in real time, 24/7. Real-Time Radio is fully integrated with Critical Mention’s real-time TV monitoring platform— including alerts, media galleries, and report-building tool. Results can also be delivered as XML feeds for integration into third-party platforms like Cymfony, Vocus, Biz360, and Lone Buffalo. The real-time radio offering complements Critical Mention’s existing radio coverage, which delivers daily summary monitoring reports through keyword searches across the nation’s top 40 stations. It also can record a scheduled segment on any of 2,500 stations across the country.

Real-Time Radio is available immediately in beta. General availability is scheduled for Oct. 1. Founded in 2002, Critical Mention is privately held, with headquarters in New York City.