Safari  Books Online© is a joint venture between® two well-known publishers^TM of information technology (IT) books: O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. and The Pearson Technology Group. O'Reilly is a premier information source for leading-edge computer  technologies. The Pearson Technology Group is the world's largest provider of consumer and professional computer, information technology, engineering, and reference content. Imprints include Addison-Wesley Professional, Cisco Press, Peachpit Press, Prentice Hall PTR, New Riders, Que and Sams.

"IT books are in high demand, and the Safari service suits the needs of researchers and students who are seeking answers to specific questions and to those seeking in-depth information on a topic," said Rod Gauvin, senior vice president and general manager of the ProQuest division of ProQuest Information and Learning. "Users can search across multiple books simultaneously, allowing the collection of books to be searched as a database rather than as discrete books. Results are ranked by relevancy, helping users to zero in on exactly the information they need. This philosophy complements our own approach to information delivery.

"The quality and breadth of the Pearson and O'Reilly imprints are unrivaled in the IT area," continued Gauvin. "We are delighted to have the opportunity to distribute this content in a searchable format to libraries around the world."

Sean Devine, managing director of Safari Books Online, said, "In evaluating potential distribution partners in the academic/public library market, we selected ProQuest as our exclusive agent because of its strong ties with libraries, its reputation for producing and distributing high-quality information products, and its strong global presence."

The books cover a wide range of IT topics, including:

- .NET

- Cisco products

- Database

- Enterprise Computing

- Networking

- Operating Systems (Windows, Linux, Unix, Macintosh)

- Programming and Software Engineering

- Internet (Web, Java, and XML)

Titles include:

- Adobe Illustrator 9.0 Classroom In A Book (Adobe Press)

- Animation on the Web (Peachpit Press)

- Applied XML Solutions (Sams Publishing)

- Core C++ A Software Engineering Approach (Prentice Hall PTR)

- Database Programming with JDBC and Java, Second Edition (O'Reilly)

- Extreme Programming Explained (Addison -Wesley)

- Inside Linux (New Riders Publishing)

- Learning Perl, 3rd Edition (O'Reilly)

- Oracle Built-in Packages (O'Reilly)

- Practical Firewalls (Que)

- Voice over IP Fundamentals (Cisco Press)

The Safari Tech Books Online library edition will include special features to accommodate library users. Safari will continue to sell subscriptions to Safari Tech Books Online to corporate libraries, IT departments, and individual users. Free trials of the library edition will be available in late January. 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. 3805 or email pr@il.proquest.com.

ProQuest Company (NYSE: PQE) was born of Bell & Howell Company's two highly respected information access businesses. Based in Ann Arbor, Mich., ProQuest Company is a leader in e-learning and e-publishing. For its customers in the academic, library, automotive, and powersports industries, the company provides access to a body of content that is unmatched in breadth and depth. Additional information on ProQuest Company can be found at www.proquestcompany.com.

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™ electronic and microform resources, UMI® microform and print reference products, and XanEdu™ online faculty and student resources. For more information about ProQuest Information and Learning, visit www.il.proquest.com.

Safari Books Online is a joint venture between the industry's leading information technology publishers: O'Reilly & Associates, Inc. and The Pearson Technology Group. Safari's flagship service, Safari Tech Books Online, is a comprehensive online information retrieval service for information technology students and enterprise-level IT departments. The service enables enterprises, information portals, associations, libraries, and universities to offer Web-based access to an exclusive collection of highly acclaimed reference content from industry-leading technical publishers: O'Reilly & Associates and Pearson imprints Addison-Wesley Professional, Adobe Press, Cisco Press, New Riders, Peachpit Press, Prentice Hall PTR, Que, and Sams. More information about Safari Books Online is available at safaribooksonline.com.