Pubnet LLC and MISG Announce Management Agreement

MISG brings more than 20 years of EDI expertise to the Pubnet service

Vienna, VA, January 3, 2000. Pubnet LLC announced today that Management Information Systems Group, Inc. (MISG) will assume management and operating responsibilities for the company's service offerings including Pubnet^TM - its Internet-based EDI service - and The Pubnet Ordering Wizard (POW!). MISG brings extensive Electronic Commerce (EC) and Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) expertise to Pubnet LLC, including publishing and book selling industry experience.

Pubnet LLC began investigating potential partnering and alliance alternatives during the past year in order to strengthen its technical & marketing resource capabilities to better serve its Pubnet 2000 customer base and manage increasing technology issues. Pubnet LLC turned to MISG because the technology solutions provider currently manages more than a dozen EDI programs for industry communities like Pubnet.

"MISG is the ideal solution for Pubnet's growing service," said Andrew M. Gregory, former managing director of Pubnet LLC, who worked with board members to identify a management alternative. "The agreement with MISG provides Pubnet a proven management solution to better serve and educate their customers about the value of EDI in the book selling and publishing industries."

"Managing Pubnet is a strong, strategic addition to our growing EC/EDI community management service," said Alan Jones, vice president and general manager of MISG. "Under the new agreement, we will provide day-to-day management of the Pubnet service and all operations, including client services and technical support in addition to increased sales and marketing support to expand its reach in the publishing industry."

Pubnet will not change under MISG management. Bookstores, publishers and suppliers will continue to interact with the system in the same way. Moving forward, MISG will continuously evaluate the Pubnet service and work toward optimizing the benefits it provides the publishing and book selling industries.

About MISG
Management Information Systems Group, Inc., headquartered in Research Triangle Park, N.C., has been providing E-commerce services to industry supply chains and communities for more than 20 years. Its customer base includes trading partners in the publishing, automotive, industrial part, plumbing, heating, cooling and piping industries.

About Pubnet LLC
More than 3,000 bookstores, wholesalers, libraries and schools currently subscribe to Pubnet, making it the world's premier Internet community for the publishing and bookselling industries.
Vienna, Va.-based Pubnet LLC has 12 years of experience serving the book trade. It is a limited liability corporation owned equally by the Association of American Publishers, the American Booksellers Association, the National Association of College Stores and R.R. Bowker, a division of Cahners Business Information.

Pubnet Press & Analyst Contact
Kate Hawken
Brodeur Worldwide for Pubnet LLC
(202) 973-2920
khawken@brodeur.com.

R.R. Bowker LLC Marketing Contact
Josephine Fiamingo: (908) 219-0157
josephine.fiamingo@bowker.com

Additional information can be found at the following:
Management Information Systems Group
Association of American Publishers
American Booksellers Association
National Association of College Stores
R. R. Bowker