BIRMINGHAM, Alabama, U.S.A. – Dec. 12, 2006 –SAGE Publications and EMpact Sales™ (EMpact), the publisher representation group within the EBSCO Information Services division, are pleased to announce a new sales partnership. Under the agreement, EMpact will represent SAGE electronic products to libraries in Latin America, the Caribbean, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong.

EMpact will work with libraries in these countries to promote SAGE online product offerings, including SAGE Premier; SAGE Scientific, Technical, and Medical Packages; the award-winning SAGE Full-Text Collections; and the new SAGE Deep Backfile Package.

The sales partnership with EMpact will support the activities of SAGE’s recently created Asia-Pacific office based in Singapore. Representatives from SAGE Asia-Pacific will be working directly with libraries in China, Japan and southeast Asia, and collaborating with EMpact in the other countries listed above.

“Ensuring our customers in Asian, Australian, New Zealand and Latin American territories have representatives readily available in their regions to discuss their online product needs from SAGE is important to us,” said Stephen Barr, Managing Director of SAGE’s London office. “EMpact’s global reach utilizing EBSCO’s regional office network will provide close customer contact with responsiveness and knowledge of SAGE’s online product offerings.”

“EMpact is pleased to represent SAGE’s quality online content in these regions,” said Sid McNeal Jr., vice president and general manager, EMpact. “We are looking forward to the success we will generate for SAGE in these areas using the numerous creative resources of our EMpact group.”

About SAGE
SAGE Publications is a leading international publisher of journals, books and electronic media for academic, educational and professional markets.

Since 1965, SAGE has helped inform and educate a global community of scholars, practitioners, researchers and students spanning a wide range of subject areas including business, humanities, social sciences and science, technology and medicine (STM). SAGE Publications, a privately owned corporation, has principal offices in Los Angeles, London, New Delhi and Singapore. www.sagepublications.com

About EMpact
EMpact Sales™ (EMpact) is part of the EBSCO group. EMpact’s strong global presence, through its affiliation with EBSCO Information Services, provides active sales representation globally. EMpact’s global reach makes it possible for content providers to take advantage of opportunities they might otherwise miss. Our representatives have produced successful sales results for publishers in Korea, Spain, Brazil, China, Germany, Mexico, Taiwan, Italy, France, The United Kingdom, Russia, Portugal, South Africa, The United States, Canada and other areas of Eastern Europe, Asia and Latin America.

About EBSCO Information Services
EBSCO Information Services is the leading service provider for e-journal, e-package and print subscriptions, a suite of e-resource management tools, full-text and secondary databases and related services for all types of libraries and research organizations.

As the “e” agent of the industry, more than half of the subscriptions handled by EBSCO have an electronic component. EBSCO’s comprehensive solutions include proven systems to consolidate ordering, invoicing, claiming and renewals as well as assistance with licensing and registration requirements for our e-journal and e-package customers worldwide. EBSCO’s 32 Regional Offices, located in 21 countries around the world, serve customers in more than 200 countries and are staffed by information professionals who speak the local language and understand the particular challenges faced by librarians in their areas.

In its seventh decade of business, EBSCO upholds relationships with more than 79,000 publishers globally. These publisher relationships uniquely position us to streamline many aspects of the e-resource life cycle. EBSCO maintains a Dun & Bradstreet financial strength rating of 5A1, the highest awarded, which underscores the importance placed on providing outstanding, ethical service.