ProQuest Launches Highly Anticipated Digital Collection of Obituaries
ANN ARBOR, Mich., Aug. 30 /PRNewswire/ -- ProQuest Information and Learning announces the launch of ProQuest Obituaries(TM), offering access to obituaries and death notices from the full runs of major national newspapers dating back to 1851. ProQuest Obituaries enables users to easily find ancestors and historical figures, and to trace their family histories through a database of more than 10 million names. To familiarize users with the database's rich content, ProQuest developed "In Passing," a free weekly e-newsletter that highlights particularly interesting passages from ProQuest Obituaries, the latest addition to the ProQuest Genealogy Center. Librarian subscribers will be able to use this newsletter to promote the rich rewards of genealogy research during October, which is Family History Month.
"The launch of ProQuest Obituaries furthers our commitment to providing the critical resources necessary to track personal histories," said David "Skip" Prichard, President of ProQuest Information and Learning. "ProQuest Obituaries joins the ProQuest Genealogy Center, our suite of resources tailored to specifically meet the needs of the library community and their patrons."
Now available to libraries everywhere, ProQuest Obituaries offers content unmatched by any other resource, and is suitable for all levels of researchers. Historical obituaries and death notices represent some of the most valuable content available to genealogists, as often they are the only existing biographical sketch devoted to an individual and can provide valuable clues like proper full name; maiden name; spousal information; names of parents, siblings, and children; occupation; religion; cause of death; and more.
The e-newsletter, "In Passing," provides anyone interested in genealogy, history, or the extraordinary stories of everyday people a sample of the historical and genealogical finds available in ProQuest Obituaries. "In Passing" subscribers will learn about the casualties of the 1919 Boston molasses flood, the "Spanish flu" pandemic that killed more than 50 million people worldwide, and the young seamstresses who died in New York's Triangle shirtwaist factory fire and the subsequent laws created that mark their heritage today. This free opt-in e-newsletter will be issued weekly during September, October, November, and December; to sign up please visit www.proquest.com/mailinglist .
In addition to the launch of ProQuest Obituaries, other ProQuest Genealogy Center resources continue to grow. ProQuest made Freedman's Bank Records, a leading resource for African-American genealogical research, available through HeritageQuest Online. Ancestry Library Edition, the largest online collection of genealogical records, also made numerous content updates including:
o U.S. Census Collection -- Now completed. Contains original full-text
images for the U.S. Federal Census 1790-1930, with all-new, every-name
indexes for each decade.
o Canadian Census Collection -- New for 2006. Censuses of Canada from
1901, 1906 and 1911. The collection now contains more than 40 million
names linked to original images.
o United Kingdom and Ireland Collection -- New for 2006. The collection
contains name indexes for 1861-1901 Census, linked to original images.
About ProQuest Information and Learning
ProQuest Information and Learning is a world leader in collecting, organizing, and publishing information for researchers, faculty, and students in libraries and schools. It is widely known for its strength in business and economics, general reference, genealogy, 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 9,000 publishers worldwide. Users access the information through the ProQuest(R) Web-based online information system, Chadwyck- Healey(TM) electronic and microform resources, UMI(R) microform and print reference products, eLibrary(R) and SIRS(R) educational resources, and Serials Solutions e-resource access and management solutions. ProQuest(R) Smart Search was named "Best Specialist Search Product" by the International Information Industry Awards in late 2005. For more information about ProQuest Information and Learning, visit www.il.proquest.com/ .
About ProQuest Genealogy Center
ProQuest has searched through its digital and microform archives to select the most valuable resources for the ProQuest Genealogy Center. This growing suite of products provides the solutions you need to best meet your patrons' research requirements. Customizable for public libraries of any size and demographic makeup, it includes two of the most powerful databases available -- HeritageQuest Online(TM) and Ancestry(R) Library Edition -- plus many other complementary resources that offer all-important detail and context from newspapers, periodicals, local histories, biographies, vital records, military records, and much more.
Source: ProQuest Information and Learning
CONTACT: News Media Contact: Tina Orozco, Publicist of ProQuest Information and Learning, +1-734-761-4700 x2540, Tina.Orozco@il.proquest.com ; Investor Contact: Jennifer Chelune, Investor Relations Manager of ProQuest Company, +1-734-997-4910, jennifer.chelune@proquest.com
Web site: www.proquestcompany.com/ www.proquest.com/mailinglist
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