ANN ARBOR, Mich., October 17, 2005 - ProQuest Information and Learning announced the release of several new K-12 resources at the American Association of School Librarians in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The introduction of these new resources caps a year in which the company has introduced six major new supplementary resources to the K-12 market. ProQuest Information and Learning, a unit of ProQuest Company, is an electronic publisher of content for libraries and educational institutions worldwide.

"As the education accountability movement grows, teachers want more than ever to find and use the right instructional resources to address educational standards and individualized student learning needs," said Al De Seta, president K-12 Market, ProQuest Information and Learning. "As a leading K-12 content provider, one of ProQuest's most important roles is to provide educators with high-quality tools and resources to achieve those goals."

The newly re-launched SIRS Researcher helps students make sense of the current and enduring social issues affecting their world. The non-divisive, unbiased editorial approach of SIRS on hundreds of Leading Issues allows students to build critical thinking skills that they will use throughout their lives. Pro/con overviews, MyAnalysis, That's Debatable polls, and primary source research guides help students understand differences in opinion, separate fact from fiction, and make up their own minds.

eLibrary Science is a comprehensive resource that supports both students' and teachers' classroom needs. The thousands of full-text and multimedia files help students research and understand concepts in science, while educators can use eLibrary Science to create engaging classroom presentations, demonstrations, lessons and activities. Additionally, a partnership with Salem Press makes available high-interest titles such as Magill's Encyclopedia of Science: Animal Life, The Encyclopedia of Genetics and others, in electronic format for the first time.

Like all ProQuest K-12 products, eLibrary and SIRS unite its content and online technologies within a standards-based framework using ProQuest's patented MediaSeek® correlation technology, which allows the knowledge database to update constantly as content and standards change. This fall, ProQuest completed loading standards in core curricula for all U.S.states and Canadian provinces.

SIRS Decades provides more than 5,000 hand-selected articles, highlighting key events, movements, people and places in 20th Century America. Documents span a wide range of formats – letters and memos, editorial cartoons, illustrations, ads and articles – with some being released from the UMI vault for the first time in digital format. Organized by decade and topic, SIRS Decades places primary and secondary sources into a curriculum-oriented framework that builds a relevant context for understanding, enriching the content and students’ experience with the material.

World Conflicts Today focuses on protracted, unresolved conflicts, exploring the past, present and implications for the future of each. Developed by our editors at CultureGrams with input from hundreds of primary and secondary sources written from multiple perspectives, the reports synthesize news articles, treatises, and editorial commentary, helping students digest complex issues. In addition to World Conflicts Today, CultureGrams released the 2006 edition of their popular country reports, with seven new reports: Angola, Ireland, Ivory Coast, Libya, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia, and Suriname.

About ProQuest
ProQuest creates specialized information resources and technologies that propel successful research, discovery, and lifelong learning. A global leader in serving libraries of all types, ProQuest offers the expertise of such respected brands as Chadwyck-Healey™, UMI®, SIRS®, and eLibrary®. With Serials Solutions®, Ulrich's™, RefWorks®, COS™, Dialog® and now Bowker® part of the ProQuest brand family, the company supports the breadth of the information community with innovative discovery solutions that power the business of books and the best in research experience.

More than a content provider or aggregator, ProQuest is an information partner, creating indispensable research solutions that connect people and information. Through innovative, user-centered discovery technology, ProQuest offers billions of pages of global content that includes historical newspapers, dissertations, and uniquely relevant resources for researchers of any age and sophistication—including content not likely to be digitized by others. Inspired by its customers and their end users, ProQuest is working toward a future that blends information accessibility with community to further enhance learning and encourage lifelong enrichment.

For more information, visit www.proquest.com or the ProQuest parent company website, www.cig.com.