....and it's lots of old microfilm readers in the wastebasket. Press Release (following) posted by Christopher Gray, New York City Bell & Howell Signs Landmark Agreement with The New York Times Company to Digitize Historical Backfiles of The New York Times - Full page images of issues dating back to 1851 to become available via ProQuest® online information system NEW YORK, NY and ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, January 12, 2001 - - Bell & Howell (NYSE: BHW) Information and Learning unit and The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) announced today an agreement that will bring The New York Times newspaper's backfile dating back to its first issue in 1851 to the Web through the ProQuest® online information service. This landmark agreement allows for Bell & Howell to digitize the backfile of the nation's newspaper of record - some 3,500,000 pages in total - and to distribute the resulting database to educational institutions and libraries around the world. The New York Times digital backfile will be part of Bell &Howell's recently announced ProQuest Historical Newspapers™ project. "This agreement will bring uniquely valuable materials to researchers, scholars, students, and historians of just about every discipline everywhere," said Joe Reynolds, president and CEO of Bell & Howell Information and Learning. "Since The New York Times was first produced on microfilm more than 50 years ago, it has been considered to be one of the most valued resources in academic and public libraries, if not 'the' premium national information source. We are deeply honored and enthusiastic to proceed with digitization and electronic distribution of, essentially, the nation's history in journalism. We know that the educational and library markets are excited at the prospect of being able to access what has only been available on microfilm - this information and historical treasure wrapped up in The New York Times. We will continue to bring to market archival products in all formats for scholars, researchers, faculty, and students around the world. We will now be able to offer a complete New York Times in microfilm and online electronic formats." The electronic file will be released in segments covering 10 years each. The digitization is expected to be completed in just 15 months, with monthly releases beginning in March 2001. The resulting database, which will be sold as an annual subscription to libraries and schools, will feature ASCII text and index searching, and will display article and full-page images. Page images provide unique view to the past The ProQuest historical archive ofThe New York Times will digitally reproduce every issue from cover to cover-not just the news stories and editorials, but also the photos, graphics, and advertisements. Searchers will be able to enter terms (keywords, such as "Hindenberg" or "Hooverville," or Boolean operators such as "keyword(general motors) and doc_type(display ad)" or "title(lindbergh) and date(1927)") to search the full file. A results list will supply bibliographic information, including date, page number, and writer's name (where given). To see the text, the user simply chooses the article, and the article image is displayed. Users will also be able to display the full image of any page in any issue. Janet Robinson, president and general manager of The New York Times newspaper, said: " We have been working with Bell & Howell for the past 17 years to produce and distribute The Times on microfilm and are pleased to be continuing that relationship and extending it to embark upon this digitization project." Martin Nisenholtz, chief executive officer of New York Times Digital, the Internet division of the Times Company, said: "This digitization project promises to increase the availability and accessibility of The New York Times archive to scholars and researchers of all types. In addition, we look forward to enhancing our Web sites by utilizing various elements of the digital archive in a number of different ways." In the second release of the product, expected in June 2001, the database will be completely browseable by issue, allowing searchers to browse through entire issues as they would a printed paper. Dates of coverage The database will cover the years 1851 to 1998 - a span of issues currently not covered by any existing electronic database. In addition, Bell & Howell will be able to offer subscriptions to the full text in ASCII format dating from January 1, 1999 (up from the current 90-day rolling file). This change in coverage is effective immediately. The interface The award-winning ProQuest® online information system features a user-friendly interface that allows beginners to pinpoint highly specific information (a photograph of John D. Rockefeller, for instance, or an eyewitness account of McKinley's assassination) or conduct in-depth longitudinal research (on topics like the changing status of African-Americans from antebellum days through the recent past). The interface is familiar to many; it is currently available to millions of higher education, K-12, and public library users globally. Free trials available in March Free trials will be available to institutions in March. A demonstration of the database will be available for review soon at www.bellhowell.infolearning.com. Libraries may receive more information by contacting their account representative at 1-800-521-0600, ext. 3183 or 3452 (outside the U.S., call +44-1-223-215-512) or [log in to unmask] Editors may call 1-800-521-0600, ext. 3805 or email [log in to unmask] More information about the ProQuest Historical Newspapers project is available at www.bellhowell.infolearning.com. About The New York Times Company The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT) is a diversified media company including newspapers, magazines, television and radio stations, and electronic information and publishing. The Company's core purpose is to enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news, information and entertainment. In 2000 the Company was ranked No. 1 in the publishing industry in Fortune's survey of the Global Most Admired Companies and was ranked first among all companies in the survey for the quality of its products and services. The Company, which had 1999 revenues of $3.1 billion, publishes The New York Times, The Boston Globe and 15 other newspapers; publishes four magazines, including Golf Digest; operates eight network-affiliated television stations and owns two New York City radio stations. It also operates news, photo and graphics services as well as news and feature syndicates. A division of the Company, New York Times Digital, operates Internet properties such as NYTimes.com, Boston.com and newyorktoday.com. The Company holds interests in one newsprint mill, one supercalendered paper mill and the International Herald Tribune S.A.S. About Bell & Howell Information and Learning Bell & Howell, headquartered in Skokie, Ill., is a leading information solutions and services provider to industries worldwide. In each of its businesses, the company transforms information through software and services, helping its customers operate more effectively and efficiently. Additional information on Bell & Howell Company can be found at www.bellhowell.com. Bell & Howell Information and Learning (formerly UMI) is a world leader in collecting, organizing, and distributing information worldwide to researchers, faculty, and students in libraries and schools. Known widely for its strength in business, general-reference, humanities, and social sciences content, the company develops premium databases comprising periodicals, newspapers, dissertations, out-of-print books, and other scholarly information from more than 8,500 publishers worldwide. Users access the information through ProQuest®, the company's Web-based online information system, Chadwyck-Healey® electronic and microform resources, and UMI® microform and print reference products. For more information about Bell & Howell Information and Learning, visit www.bellhowell.infolearning.com. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ -- For more information, contact: News Media Contacts: Tina Creguer Director, Communications/PR 1-800-521-0600, ext. 3805 734-761-4700, ext. 3805 [log in to unmask] Lisa Carparelli Director, Communications New York Times Digital 646-698-8212 [log in to unmask] Investor Contacts: Dwight Mater V.P., Investor Relations and Business Development Bell & Howell Company 847-470-7620 Catherine Mathis V.P., Corporate Communications The New York Times Company 212-556-1981 [log in to unmask] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ - ©2000, Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.