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Pearson Custom Publishing Takes On Western Civilization

College Professors Create Their Own Textbooks Online With New Penguin Custom Editions

Boston, MA. - January 16, 2002 - Pearson Custom Publishing and Penguin Putnam ­ both businesses of Pearson Education ­ have partnered to offer college professors a new, Web-driven way to select Penguin content for their Western civilization, humanities, philosophy and classics courses with the launch of Penguin Custom Editions.

In choosing course materials, professors have traditionally combined a core textbook with a packet of photocopied readings and a selection of whole works in paperback format. The Pearson Custom Editions program effectively replaces the conventional course-pack with a custom-built reader that focuses on highly specific themes and topics. Each professor can, in effect, publish his or her own "dream collection" of classic readings that exactly match their shifting course requirements.

The program, called Penguin Custom Editions: The Western World, is a digitally-mastered collection of over 1,200 readings excerpted from the Penguin Classics paperback series in Western literature, history and culture. Unique in the market, the program gives professors direct control over content, length, sequence and price in designing teaching materials for their courses.

Using a complimentary Book Building Kit, professors can view the entire content of all available readings in the Pearson Custom Editions digital database using a protected CD-ROM. All permissions associated with the readings are cleared by Pearson in advance, saving teachers the trouble of requesting them or paying permissions fees. In real time, professors select their readings, reorder them in an interactive table of contents, and upload their own materials, such as teaching notes or syllabi. They then choose a cover design, and confirm the final length and net price of their reader ‹ which are continuously updated onscreen. When the selection process is complete, the book building system issues each professor a unique ISBN and in 4-6 weeks Pearson Custom Publishing compiles, prints and ships the finished books to the bookstore.

"With this venture, we are opening up the doors for professors to tailor their curriculum to what they are teaching. Today's higher education needs demands the flexibility and cost-effectiveness that we can promise with Penguin Custom Editions," says Don Kilburn, president of Pearson Custom Publishing, "With Penguin Putnam's rich collection of classics available on disk, finding content is easy, and putting it all together in a professional, attractive reader is even easier."

About Pearson Custom Publishing

Pearson Custom Publishing is the custom and database publishing operation of Pearson Education's Higher Education group. It has been a leader among custom publishers for nearly 30 years. Based in Boston, MA, Pearson Custom Publishing assists educators with print and media solutions to their course material needs by utilizing original material, Pearson Education, and third-party content to create new customized works. For more information, visit www.pearsoncustom.com.

About Pearson Education

With offices in 33 countries, Pearson Education is the world's leading education business. Its brands include Addison Wesley, Allyn & Bacon, Benjamin Cummings, Longman, Prentice Hall, Pearson Learning, Scott Foresman, and NCS Pearson. Pearson Education is the global leader in online learning with over 1,800 textbook companion Web sites, NCS Learn, the InformIT portal for technology professionals, and Pearson's Learning Network, the award-winning learning portal for parents, teachers, and children. Pearson is the global education business of Pearson (NYSE: PSO, FTSE: PSON), the international media group. For more information, visit www.pearsoned.com

About Penguin Putnam

Penguin Putnam Inc. is the U.S. affiliate of the internationally renowned Penguin Group. It is one of the leading U.S. adult and children's trade book publishers, and owns a wide range of imprints and trademarks: Berkley Books, Dutton, Grosset & Dunlap, New American Library, Penguin, Philomel, Plume, G. P. Putnam's Sons, Riverhead Books, Viking, and Frederick Warne, among others. The Penguin Group is owned by Pearson, the international media group. For more information, visit www.penguinputnam.com