Press release from the International DOI Foundation

[Carol Risher <crisher@publishers.org>]

PRESS RELEASE 
Issued by THE INTERNATIONAL DOI FOUNDATION
1718 Connecticut Avenue, NW, 7th floor
Washington, DC 20009

								
February 26, 1998 					Contact: Patricia Peron-Polster
								202-232-3335 ext. 236

DIRECTOR NAMED FOR INTERNATIONAL DOI FOUNDATION

Washington, DC -- The International DOI Foundation (Digital Object
Identifier) today announced that Dr. Norman Paskin has been appointed as
the first Director of the Foundation effective March 1, 1998.

Dr. Paskin, 43, joins the Foundation from Elsevier Science, where he has
held a number of editorial, management and technology positions, most
recently as Director of Information Technology Development.  Educated at
the University of Nottingham (UK), he holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry and
computer modeling, and has worked for twenty years in the publishing
industry in both the U.S. and Europe.  He has been actively involved in
information identifiers issues for the STM (scientific, technical and
medical) publishing community, and has published several papers on this topic.

Charles Ellis, Vice President of the International Publishers Association
and Chairman of the Interim Steering Committee of the Foundation, said "I
am delighted by Dr. Paskin's appointment.  Having worked with Norman in the
past, I am very familiar with his management skills, technological
sophistication and commitment to the future of publishing in a digital world."

Carol Risher of the Association of American Publishers (AAP) -- who has
served as Acting General Manager of the Foundation during the transition of
the DOI from a project of the AAP Enabling Technologies Committee to an
international institution --  will continue to actively participate in the
development of the DOI to a fully implemented system, and will work closely
with Dr. Paskin during the initial transition period.

The International DOI Foundation (http://www.doi.org) was established with
offices in Washington, DC and Geneva, Switzerland following the launch of
the Digital Object Identifier system at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October
1997.  The purpose of the Foundation is to support the needs of the
intellectual property community in the digital environment.

The 1998 program of the Foundation calls for intensive development of the
DOI system as a standardized solution for the intellectual property
communities (including text, music, images, and multimedia), active
involvement in discussions of related identifiers and systems and digital
infrastructure developments, and the appointment of service providers for
the efficient operation of the technology and business activities of the
DOI system.  A goal of the Foundation is to engage members in active
involvement in defining policies and solutions.  Membership inquiries are
welcome from all who wish to participate in shaping the infrastructure for
electronic publishing and information dissemination and ensuring the
effective respect of copyright.