PRESS RELEASE

March 8, 2001
Swets Blackwell and IBM announce product development agreement

Swets Blackwell and IBM announced today an agreement to develop and build
a portfolio of web-based information management products and services.
These will be rolled out over the next five months and will allow
corporate clients and end-users to purchase and manage their subscriptions
online.

Implementation will take place in two phases, with the first release
slated for April 1 and the second by July 1. In the first release Swets
Blackwell's online catalog will be made available to corporate clients,
enabling them to place orders by linking out from their existing
e-procurement systems such as Ariba, SAP or Commerce One.  The second
release will have full subscription management functionalities and will be
available to clients without e-procurement systems. Through such features
as online ordering, canceling and claiming, as well as order approval
functions, Swets Blackwell clients will have full control at each step of
the procurement process.

Geert Visscher, CEO of Swets Blackwell, commented: "We are delighted to be
working with IBM towards our goal of becoming the premier provider of
information management tools and services to corporate organizations. Our
new online subscription service will truly leverage our experience in
information management.  We know the corporate market because we service
them now, and we are confident that our new products and services will
also be well received by our academic, medical and government clients. In
addition, we plan to continue expanding our product portfolio with other
professional and business information such as books and news services
through strategic partnerships."

Martin van de Meer, Managing Principal for Media & Entertainment with IBM
Global Services, added: "We feel confident that this strategic partnership
will assist Swets Blackwell in not only achieving but exceeding their
business objectives. IBM is able to bring value to the customer by
leveraging our knowledge in the media segment, with leading edge products
and our service portfolio."

For further information please contact
Sarah Kellman, Communication
Executive at Swets Blackwell.
P.O.Box 830
2160 SZ Lisse, The Netherlands
Tel:  +31 (0)252 435 584
Fax: +31 (0)252 415 888
Email: press@nl.swetsblackwell.com

From: Sarah Kellman <skellman@SWETS.NL>