“This new research collection is a natural extension to ProQuest’s longstanding 19^th-century research initiative, which continues to draw on the vast collection of resources of the period available in the ProQuest Digital Vault.  In addition to comprehensive 19^th-century content, ProQuest will provide the sophisticated research tools necessary for a true scholarly experience,” said Suzanne BeDell, vice president of publishing for ProQuest. 

The digital collection of the British Parliamentary Papers 1801-1900 will include the detailed Chadwyck-Healey^TM subject index and searchable ASCII text and images. NSTC, already the seminal index for the 19th century, holds more than 1.2 million records from eight contributing libraries for titles published in the United Kingdom and the United States between 1801 and 1919. 

Additional components will be added to further define the new program, including:

• The Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals, from Taylor & Francis, the most authoritative index to periodicals available for the period 1824-1900
• Index to the Nineteenth Century House of Commons Parliamentary Papers 1801-1900
• Palmer's Index to The Times, 1790-1905
• Citation records for selected ProQuest 19^th-century periodical and newspaper holdings, including the highly regarded American Periodical Series Online

This new content will make NSTC the most comprehensive finding aid for British and American monographs, periodicals and government documents for the 19^th century.  Through NSTC, users will be able to access full text or images from a wide variety of research collections via direct links or OpenURL. 

ProQuest will work with the academic community to create direct links to existing digital collections currently loaded and hosted locally, driving traffic to other important resources.  The company will also continue to cooperate with other commercial publishers to make the database an even stronger tool for organizing 19^th-century digital content.

ProQuest’s Digital Vault holds many resources from the period in its content portfolio, including:

• Early British Periodicals and English Literary Periodicals, a collection of more than 300 titles published during the 17^th, 18^th and 19^th centuries.  They encompass a wide variety of subjects and information on events and culture of the time.  Many eminent writers of the period – including Dickens, Thackeray, Tennyson, Eliot, and others – are featured as editors or contributors.  The periodicals include literary reviews, essays, miscellanies, satire and humor, political, religious, and women’s magazines published in England, Scotland and Ireland.
• 19^th Century Women Writers, a comprehensive collection of imaginative literature written when women first came into their own as authors.  Most of the works have never been recorded in any bibliography, nor have they been available in a format in which they may easily be read and compared.  The collection identifies 4,500 women writers, many for the first time.
• The 19^th Century General Collection, a microform program begun in 1986 to record materials from British Library holdings.  The single largest and most important source of 19^th century works for research and teaching, it holds more than 28,000 titles, all accessible through brief catalog records.  Each title was hand-selected by the editorial staff according to criteria developed by Robin Alston, a leading scholar on the period.

Free trials are available. Libraries may receive more information by contacting their account representative at 1-800-521-0600, ext. 3183 or 3452 (outside the U.S., call +44-1-223-215-512) or pqsales@il.proquest.com . Editors may call 1-800-521-0600, ext. 6489 or email pr@il.proquest.com .

About ProQuest Information and Learning

ProQuest Information and Learning is a world leader in collecting, organizing, and publishing information worldwide for researchers, faculty, and students in libraries and schools. Known widely for its strength in business and economics, general reference, humanities, social sciences, and STM content, the company develops premium databases comprising periodicals, newspapers, dissertations, out-of-print books, and other scholarly information from more than 8,500 publishers worldwide.  Users access the information through the ProQuest® Web-based online information system, Chadwyck-Healey^TM electronic and microform resources, UMI® microform and print reference products, eLibrary®, SIRS®, and Voyager Expanded Learning educational resources, and XanEdu® online faculty and student resources.  For more information about ProQuest Information and Learning, visit www.il.proquest.com.

ProQuest Information and Learning is a business unit of ProQuest Company (www.proquestcompany.com), which was recently named one of the top 100 fastest growing technology companies in the United States by Business 2.0 and one of the 200 best small companies by Forbes Magazine.