Online retailer Amazon.co.uk has announced that it is to sponsor the British Library's Online Public Access Catalogue (http://opac97.bl.uk).
1 February 1999. Amazon.co.uk's sponsorship includes the placement of a search facility and banners throughout the online service, which provides free access to the catalogues of the major British Library collections in London and in Boston Spa. Users following these links will be taken directly to the Amazon.co.uk store, where they can choose from a selection of more than 1.2 million UK books in print, and more than 300,000 US-published books.

Dr Simon Murdoch, Managing Director of Amazon.co.uk said: "OPAC97 provides a wealth of information, which is of particular use for students and scholars looking to locate a range of texts to help them with their studies. Our sponsorship of this service adds an extra dimension to the site, giving visitors easy and convenient access to Amazon.co.uk's rich book content, wide selection of titles and low prices."

Dr Brian Lang, Chief Executive of The British Library, commented: "Amazon.co.uk's sponsorship support means that we can continue to offer the catalogue service free of charge to the thousands of people who use it to look for information everyday. The additional content provided will also allow us to offer people the facility to search current book information and the option to purchase from Amazon.co.uk." Amazon.co.uk launched on October 15, 1998, and offers all 1.2 million UK published books in print, as well as a selection of 300,000 of the best selling US-published titles. Customers buying books on Amazon.co.uk find everyday discounts of up to 40% off High Street prices on thousands of popular books and can benefit from the convenience of shopping 24 hours a day, seven days a week, from any computer with Internet access.

Notes to editors

About The British Library

The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and one of the world's greatest libraries. Services offered are based on its outstanding collections, developed over 250 years, of over one hundred and fifty million items representing every age of written civilisation, every written language and every aspect of human thought. OPAC 97 was launched in May 97 and provides free access via the World Wide Web to more than 9 million bibliographic records from the catalogues of the major British Library collections in London and Boston Spa. It is searched daily by thousands of users worldwide from all types of organisations.

About Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.co.uk is a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc. Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN), the Internet's No. 1 book and No. 1 music retailer, opened its virtual doors on the World Wide Web in July 1995 and quickly became Earth's Biggest Bookstore. Today, the Amazon.com store has expanded to offer more than 4.7 million books, music CDs, audiobooks, videos, DVDs, computer games and other titles, plus easy-to-use search-and-locate features, secure credit card payment, personalised recommendations, streamlined ordering through 1-Click(TM) technology, and direct shipping. Amazon.com operates two international bookstore Web sites: www.amazon.co.uk in the United Kingdom and www.amazon.de in Germany. Amazon.com also operates PlanetAll (www.planetall.com), a Web-based address book, calendar, and reminder service, and the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com), the Web's comprehensive and authoritative source of information on more than 150,000 movies and entertainment programs and 500,000 cast and crew members dating from the birth of film in 1892 to the present.

This announcement contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties that include, among others, Amazon.com's limited operating history, anticipated losses, unpredictability of future revenues, potential fluctuations in quarterly operating results, seasonality, competition, risks associated with system development and operation risks, management of potential growth, and risks of new business areas, international expansion, business combinations, and strategic alliances. More information about factors that potentially could affect Amazon.com's financial results is included in Amazon.com's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1997, as amended by the Form 8-K filed September 11, 1998, and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended March 31, 1998, June 30, 1998 and September 30, 1998.

Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.de, PlanetAll.com, IMDB.com, Earth's Biggest Bookstore, and 1-Click are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All other names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

For more information about The British Library's OPAC 97 service please go to http://opac97.bl.uk. For general information about the British Library please contact the British Library Press Office:

• Telephone: 0171 412 7111
  Fax: 0171 412 7168
  E-mail: press-and-pr@bl.uk

For more information about Amazon.co.uk, please contact:

• Fiona Murphy or
  Rebecca Woods on 0208 237 4000.