December 8, 1998

Barnes & Noble in Deal That Could Hurt Amazon Microsoft and Barnes & Noble announced an agreement to weave together their on-line products and services in a multimillion-dollar marketing arrangement that makes Barnes & Noble the exclusive book merchant on Microsoft's popular MSN network. The deal could prove damaging to the Internet's largest bookseller, Amazon.com. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed, but analysts said it could give Barnes & Noble significant reach in an area where it has lagged. Shares of Barnes & Noble surged 10 percent and Microsoft rose nearly 5 percent. Shares of Amazon rose 1.3 percent. [Page C6.]

Clyde Haberman (NYC) column on taking double-decker bus tours around New York City, and hearing surprising amount of misinformation about city and its history promulgated by guides; photo (M)

William K Stevens article surveys man's effects on the earth's water cycle and progress toward mitigating some of the harm he has done; photos; map; graph (M)

Smithsonian Institution's Archives of American Art, whose more than 13 million documents record history of visual art in US, comes under fire for closing offices in Boston and Detroit and also for past retrenchments, its sometimes fitful collecting and its often tardy processing of material; archives director, Richard J Wattenmaker, replies to critics in harsh tones, saying they fail to realize how 'up the creek' the archives' finances are; photo (M)

Overbrook Senior High School in Pine Hill, NJ, is repeatedly being disrupted by spate of bomb threats; although threats are believed to be student hoax, school was evacuated more than 30 times in last year; police say that although they have identified dozens of suspects, and are ready to make two arrests, investigation has been hampered by lack of witnesses; map; photos (M)