ANN ARBOR, Mich., April 10, 2003 - ProQuest Information and Learning will launch PQNext, the latest version of its award-winning ProQuest® interface, in July following extensive user testing and feedback. PQNext will provide powerful, easy-to-use access to the databases produced and distributed by ProQuest Company’s (NYSE:PQE) Information and Learning unit to educational institutions and libraries around the world.

ProQuest has made a substantial investment to rebuild and expand its highly regarded interface, which debuted in 1996. A dedicated team drawn from every area of the company worked on the project, considering issues of librarianship and advanced scholarly research as well as technology in the process.

"PQNext will provide seamless access to a full range of products," said Rod Gauvin, senior vice president of sales and marketing for ProQuest Information and Learning. "As the leader in educational and scholarly publishing, we are committed to investing in technology we need to maintain our market leadership and give our customers the best research products possible."

PQNext will harness the power of metadata and rich content for superior search results. Article-level metadata, including abstracts and subject terms, and enhanced linking capabilities using OpenURL will help researchers find material that had been less accessible. Seamless searching of the current file and backfile was added last March. Many more new features will be phased in over the next few months.

In addition, the new interface retains all the capabilities of the existing ProQuest platform, such as flexible linking options to services such as SFX, end user controls like marked lists, email, and export to bibliographic software packages while adding many new features and tools to aid in the search process. It was developed by a multi-disciplinary team based on extensive market research end-user observation, customer feedback, and usability testing combined with literally hundreds of prototypes.

"We're leveraging technology while recognizing that we still need human intervention and editorial control. We've enhanced efficiency without loss of quality," said Todd Fegan, vice president of product management for ProQuest Information and Learning, speaking to a group of librarians at the ACRL National Conference in Charlotte, NC recently.

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About ProQuest Company

ProQuest Company (NYSE: PQE) is based in Ann Arbor, Mich., and is a leading provider of value-added information and content to the library, classroom, automotive and powersports markets. We provide products and services to our customers through two business segments: Information & Learning and Business Solutions. Through our Information & Learning segment, which primarily serves the library and classroom markets, we aggregate and publish value-added content from a wide range of sources including newspapers, periodicals and books. Our Business Solutions segment is primarily engaged in the delivery in electronic form of comprehensive parts and service information to the automotive market. It also provides dealers in the powersports (motorcycle, marine, RV and outdoor power) markets with management systems that enable them to manage their inventory, customer service and other aspects of their businesses.

ProQuest Information and Learning is a world leader in collecting, organizing, and distributing information worldwide to 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, bigchalk™ educational resources, and XanEdu^TM online faculty and student resources. For more information about ProQuest Information and Learning, visit www.il.proquest.com .