COLE'S NEWSWIRE, April 16, 1997

April 16, 1997
Vol. 3, No. 15

The NEWSWIRE is a weekly distribution of information about the sales and installations of publishing technology and the latest news on new products developed by suppliers to the industry.

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ADQUEST CLASSIFIEDS
AdQuest, an on-line classified advertising service based in Waupaca, Wis., has announced it has signed contracts with 20 newspapers in Iowa and 41 papers in Minnesota, bringing the total number of U.S. publications it serves to 247 in 37 states.

AdQuest also recently received an exclusive endorsement from the Arizona Newspapers Association, and is negotiating with other state newspaper associations. The weekly cost per ad for newspapers whose state associations have endorsed AdQuest is 50 cents or less, depending on volume.

AdQuest, which says it carries more than 45,000 ads on the Internet daily, enables allows users to define the area of their search by a mileage radius based on their ZIP code. Through ReQuest, users may ask AdQuest to e-mail them when it locates a searched-for item.

Consumers without Internet access may use the service by calling 800-FREE LIST and speaking to an operator.

AdQuest may be visited on the World-Wide Web at http://www.adquest.com/.

ASSOCIATED INFORMATION SYSTEMS INTERNATIONAL
AISI, a publishing systems service provider and software designer based in Auburn, Calif., has made several announcements:

-- The ALBANY (N.Y.) TIMES UNION and AISI have entered into a joint development and marketing agreement for the paper's C.R.A.D.A.Base automobile, real estate, employment and general ad management product. With C.R.A.D.A.Base, auto dealerships and real estate companies have their products displayed on the newspaper's web site. At the newspaper, advertising is received electronically and the same information is repurposed for print, web and voice publication.

Also, the TIMES UNION (100k, morning) is testing AISI's WebPub classified ad system with ad order entry. WebPub's SQL database management system and remote entry web functions are being examined for inclusion into the C.R.A.D.A.Base products marketed by AISI.

-- AISI has agreed to a business alignment with Diamond Ridge Inc. of Clifton Park, N.Y. A custom software development company specializing in C++ and other standards-based programming languages, Diamond Ridge will work with AISI on software development projects.

-- The FRESNO (Calif.) BEE (153k, morning) has acquired FaxAction, AISI's inbound fax/OCR system. The BEE will use the integrated advertising software to deliver incoming electronic, scanned and e-mailed input into its classified database via LAN API ports. FaxAction was written by Competent Consulting of Sacramento, Calif.

AISI may be visited on the World-Wide Web at http://www.aisipub.com/.

CITYSEARCH
CitySearch, an on-line service provider based in Pasadena, Calif., has announced a strategic partnership with Torstar Corp. of Toronto, Canada, to deliver local on-line information to greater Toronto and southern Ontario by mid-1997.

Torstar, which owns the TORONTO STAR (491k, morning) and Metroland newspapers, is a strategic investment partner in CitySearch. Other investors who collectively have committed $20 million to CitySearch include Compaq Computer Corp., Comcast Corp., Goldman Sachs and AT&T Ventures.

CitySearch has services running in Pasadena, New York, San Francisco, Austin, Texas and Raleigh-Durham, N.C. CitySearch is on the Web at http://www.citysearch.com/. Torstar is at http://www.torstar.com/.

DIGITAL CITY INC.
Digital City, an on-line network based in Vienna, Va., has announced that the SEATTLE TIMES will be the first major metro to join Digital City's Affiliate Program. Users of the Digital City network interested in the Seattle area will have access to news and information provided by the TIMES.

Digital City is available on America Online, with plans to expand to the World-Wide Web in the near future. The Digital City network, now providing on-line services to 13 cities nationwide, is accessible at http://digitalcity.com/. The TIMES' on-line location is http://seatimes.com/.

FORT LAUDERDALE SUN-SENTINEL
The SUN-SENTINEL (265k, morning) has announced that its story archives may be accessed through America Online and the World-Wide Web. The Sun-Sentinel Digital Edition offers a database of stories dating to 1985.

America Online users can search the Sun-Sentinel archives for $1.25 a minute during prime time (7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday) or 15 cents a minute off-prime. Web users are not charged to search the archives, but a copy of a complete story costs $1.95. Fees are charged to the user's credit card.

On AOL, the Sun-Sentinel Digital Edition can be accessed by using the keyword "SunSentinel." The web address is http://www.Sun-Sentinel.com/.

LEXIS-NEXIS
Lexis-Nexis, an on-line information provider and distributor of archiving software based in Dayton, Ohio, has introduced PhotoView Contact, a package that provides Internet or intranet photo searching.

With Contact, authorized users have full archive access and image retrieval and downloading. A guest designation, primarily for Internet customers, allows access to a targeted subset of the archive with an order button for electronic or hard copy images.

Lexis-Nexis may be visited on the Web at http://www.lexis-nexis.com/.

UMI
UMI, an on-line information provider based in Ann Arbor, Mich., is now accepting nominations for the 1997 Excellence in Writing Award, which will be presented to the author of published articles focusing on electronic information technology, information systems, databases, or the on-line industry.

The $1,500 cash award and a trophy will be presented at the International Online program Dec. 9-11 in London, sponsored by Learned Information Ltd. The worldwide competition is open to authors, individually or as a group, whose work has been published in any journal between August 1996 and July 1997.

Judges for this year's contest are Reva Basch, a regular contributor to Online and Database; Nancy Herther, president of High Tech Ventures Inc., a research and consulting firm, and Tim Miller, principal, New Media Resources.

A copy of the rules may be viewed at UMI's web site, http://www.umi.com/.

ZIP2
Zip2, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based provider of on-line services to local media companies, has announced an agreement with Times Mirror to bring Zip2's on-line door-to-door directions, mapping and business directories to consumers via web sites operated by the LOS ANGELES TIMES, NEWSDAY, BALTIMORE SUN, HARTFORD COURANT and ALLENTOWN (Pa.) MORNING CALL. Each newspaper has full control of its brand and its own web site development. The newspapers manage local promotion of their sites to their communities and sales of advertisements to local businesses.

Zip2 is on the 'Net at http://www.zip2.com/.

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COLE'S NEWSWIRE is compiled by Pete Wetmore and distributed by The Cole Group, publishers of THE COLE PAPERS, COLE'S GUIDE TO PUBLISHING SYSTEMS and consultants to newspapers and magazines worldwide. To receive more information about The Cole Group, send e-mail to: info@colegroup.com.

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