----------1
Date: Mon, 30 Dec 2002 07:46:33 -0800 (PST)
From: Grace-Ellen McCrann <gemscot@yahoo.com>
Subject: More info re devine/Faxon/Rowe

30 December 2002

Dear Everybody,

1) Rowe has put out a statement re the devine/Faxon/Rowe situation that includes the
following:

a) Elsevier, John Wiley and Blackwell have agreed to continue to distribute journals
through January 2003.

b) An ad hoc committee, "The Informal Committee" has been established. The committee
includes Elsevier, John Wiley and Blackwell, as well as at least one "major research
library".

You can contact this committee at: adhoccommittee@nyc.rr.com

c) "RoweCom has been advised recently by its parent company, divine inc. ("divine"),
that divine has recently decided to no longer support the subscription aggregation
business. Without the support of divine, RoweCom has been forced to explore
strategic alternatives that may ultimately include the sale or shutdown of the
business. RoweCom will continue limited operations during this exploration period.

Any funds received prospectively for subscriptions will be maintained in a
segregated escrow account pending transmittal to the applicable publisher."

d)"RoweCom asks for the patience of its customers during the next couple of weeks
and will provide you with an update as to status of the process no later than
January 8th, 2003. If during the meantime, you have not received a publication that
you have ordered, please contact your customer service representative at (800)
769-3266."

e) Rowe's complete statement can be found at the bottom of a 23 December SEC filing
at: http://www.secinfo.com/dVut2.38Zc.c.htm

2) devine has issued a press release re their "reorganization" plans which they say
will make them "even more nimble and responsive to market and customer needs."

The bottom line for libraries who have relied on devine/Faxon/Rowe for journals is
the following comment:  "As part of this realignment, divine is announcing its
intent to divest the content subscription business delivered through its RoweCom,
Inc. subsidiary and focus on digital content delivery."

They also say:  "divine and EBSCO Industries Inc. announced that the two companies
have signed a letter of intent under which EBSCO would acquire the European
operations of RoweCom, subject to regulatory and board approvals and other customary
conditions.  divine also has received a term sheet from and is in active
negotiations with Swets Blackwell, which has expressed unsolicited, definitive
interest in acquiring some or all of the RoweCom operations worldwide."

No immediate or actual solutions/substitutions for devine/Faxon/Rowe journal
customers are suggested in this press release.

The whole message is at:
http://www.divine.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=d3%2FPage%2Fd3SubSectionWrapper&c=DevArticle&cid=1040222809468&p=1018281461145

Kind regards,
Grace-Ellen

Grace-Ellen McCrann
Chief, Government Documents Division
The City College of New York
Cohen Library, Room 2/305
138th Street & Convent Avenue
New York, NY 10031
(212) 650 5073
gemscot@yahoo.com

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----------2
From: "Roberta Winjum" <Winjum@LIBRARY.Vanderbilt.edu>
Date: Mon, 30 Dec 2002 09:24:52 -0600
Subject: divine info

I've been following the messges about divine/Faxon with great interest, thankful
that we don't do business with them. I recently noticed divine's name in connection
with some other business dealings that I thought I'd share.

Below is a newsletter excerpt from a small seed catalog company, Johnny's Selected
Seeds, http://www.johnnyseeds.com/<color><param>0000,0000,0000</param>

**************

-- The divine, Inc. lawsuit.  Last month I told you about our being threatened with
a lawsuit for patent infringement.  Well, last week we were actually "served" the
lawsuit, which means, in plain talk, that we have been sued. To refresh your memory,
divine, Inc.  claims to own the technology that networks between a seller's computer
and a buyer's computer.  More personally, it's that we receive your order and credit
card information with our computer.  In other words, ordinary e-commerce.  Johnny's
website works pretty well, but it's also technically ordinary.  We got our
e-commerce software from a small, local company who got it from public domain. Most
web shopping that you encounter on the Internet uses essentially the same
technology.  Divine, Inc. claims that they own it.

**********************

Johnny's says that many small companies are being sued, and that divine is hoping
they'll choose to settle out of court. A web site Johnny's has created at
http://www.divineintervention.biz/ provides more information.A contact at Johnny's
gave me permission to share this info with the library world. When I mentioned that
lots of librarians are also gardeners, he said used to work for Gale!

Roberta

----------3
Date: Mon, 30 Dec 2002 10:18:33 -0500
From: Elyse Hayes <ehayes@icseminary.edu>
Subject: latest info divine debacle?

Would someone take pity on me and e-mail me the latest news on the divine debacle?
I have been without e-mail for the last week - all my messages have bounced back.

I need the bottom line of how to proceed.  Phone messages, faxes and e-mail to
divine/Faxon and to the company DSI have not been answered.  I could not gain access
to the link provided below.

If you have any pertinent messages still in your "inbox" dated after 12/19, I would
appreciate having them forwarded to me by some kind soul.

Thank you.
Elyse Hayes
Library Director
Seminary of the Immaculate Conception
Huntington, NY
ehayes@icseminary.edu