AIP Publishing, a division of the American Institute of Physics (AIP), and Publishing Technology plc announce a partnership to build the next generation of AIP’s Scitation, scheduled for launch in the fourth quarter of 2012.

The new custom platform will be developed using Publishing Technology’s pub2web hosting solution, enabling AIP and its Member Societies to house an impressive portfolio of journals and conference proceedings as well as Physics Today magazine and historical documents from AIP’s Physics Resources Center.

"With our strategic shift to concentrate our resources on serving our readers, authors, librarians and our Member Society publishing partners, we are excited to find an impressive partner to deliver the best possible way forward,” said John Haynes, Vice President of Publishing at AIP. “Enhanced functionality, discoverability and customer experience are paramount in our business and Publishing Technology has the international expertise to provide the first-class infrastructure our readers expect."

Designed to put users at the center combining a flexible and extensible architecture with sophisticated information commerce, leading-edge semantic technology and industry standards, the pub2web interface will provide the research community with new opportunities for collaboration and discovery. During the design phases, the user community will be engaged through focus groups, dialogue, training and usability testing. Authors, readers and librarians can expect a seamless transition, new interactive communities and an overall enhanced user experience tailored to their specific needs. According to AIP’s Chief Information Officer Evan Owens, “Publishing Technology’s pub2web hosting platform will provide the foundation for the AIP collection of specialized physics-related content with a rich array of semantic features as well as deliver industry-standard support for the needs of library and individual subscribers. We look forward to working with the company’s development team to revolutionize the user experience.”

Louise Russell, Chief Operating Officer of Publishing Technology’s Online Division, offered, "We are excited by the prospect of providing AIP and its Member Societies with the technology to take their digital strategy to the next level. Focusing on the needs of authors, readers and librarians to deliver new, personalized discovery routes into content will break down traditional silos and allow for experimentation and added value. By bridging multiple content types from multiple member publishers and extending their reach, the new Scitation will be a premier research destination on the Web."