Our STM business also includes books and electronic products. We continue to build our applied books program, particularly in our franchise areas of chemistry and the life sciences. New titles in fiscal 1996 included Table of Isotopes , by Richard B. Firestone and Virginia A. Shirley, a classic reference work, and Practical Data Communications , by Roger Freeman. The VCH acquisition supports our growth in STM books, since the VCH Group publishes 500 titles a year, with a backlist of 3,000. Our Current Protocols business continues to grow rapidly from a small base and is expected to become a significant contributor to revenues and profits within the next few years.
Protocols comprise the canon of laboratory procedures for scientists around the world.
Current Protocols in Protein Science , fourth in our Protocols series, was published in 1996, and three more are under development.