Online Service helps users locate available funding.

Press Release Summary:



Utilizing Lucene search engine technology, COS Funding Opportunities(TM) v4.0 supports users searching over 23,000 records of available grants, awards, and other funding. Step-by-step guided option is available for new users as well as ability to sort search results.



Original Press Release:



Community of Science Launches New Version of COS Funding Opportunities



Version 4.0 Culmination of Six-Month Period of Significant Enhancements to Core Products

BALTIMORE, Nov. 18 - Community of Science(R) (COS) has launched version 4.0 of COS Funding Opportunities(TM), its flagship service for the global research community.

The most significant change with version 4.0 is the migration to Lucene search engine technology. The new search technology improves the performance of the service, which supports an ever-increasing number of users searching over 23,000 records of available grants, awards and other funding. Enhancements were also made to the service's search interfaces, including the introduction of a step-by-step guided option for new users and the ability to sort search results.

The new release of COS Funding Opportunities marks the completion of a six-month phase of implementing significant, targeted enhancements to COS core products. After key management changes in April 2004, COS embarked on a plan to enhance its COS Expertise(R), COS Funding Opportunities and COS Abstract Management System(TM) (COS AMS) services. Many changes are apparent to users, such as new features and increased search speeds. Other changes were made to increase internal efficiencies in administering the services.

"I like the new format for the COS Funding Opportunities' database," said Jean Blair of The University of Iowa. "It is easier to read and there are new features that are convenient and helpful for our institution."

COS Public View of Expertise(TM) (COS PVE) has also been recently enhanced. An add-on feature to COS Expertise, COS PVE enables organizations to promote select information about their research faculty and staff to the public in a searchable format. COS PVE customers are now able to customize the service to better integrate with the look and feel of their websites.

"COS is determined to provide our customers with resources and services they need to achieve the goals of their organizations," said Jeff Baer, President and CEO of COS. "I'm pleased with these improvements and that we've set the stage for more."

Changes were made to many other aspects of COS services, including upgrades to the profile update facility in COS Expertise; improvement in the interface and functionality of COS Workbench; introduction of an easier-to- read format of COS Funding Alert; substantive improvements to the communications tools in COS AMS; new customization tools for MyProfile views; and many more enhancements to various COS services.

About Community of Science, Inc.
Community of Science, Inc. (COS) provides web-based resources to facilitate research across all disciplines, including physical sciences, social sciences and humanities. COS Expertise is a database of profiles of nearly 500,000 researchers and scholars worldwide. COS Funding Opportunities is the largest inventory of currently available grants, awards and fellowships around the globe, with more than 23,000 records representing over $33 billion in funding. COS also serves professional societies with COS Abstract Management System and offers an array of online bibliographic databases. COS was founded in 1989 by The Johns Hopkins University. http://www.cos.com/.

CONTACT:
Cathy Kilmon
443.573.2842 (o)
cmkilmon@cos.com

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