"We are proud to be recognized for the prestigious 'Best Specialist Search Product' for ProQuest Smart Search", says Suzanne BeDell, Vice President of Publishing. "This technology has been embraced by all levels of users, from novices to those familiar with constructing Boolean queries.  We are very pleased with how Smart Search works for and with the user to provide better results, rather than just more results."

Originally released in late 2004, ProQuest Smart Search has been refined and developed throughout 2005.  Globally, usage statistics have increase search success and accuracy by more than 20% (as measured by ProQuest through extensive user testing). 

ProQuest Smart Search taps into ProQuest's powerful indexing to supercharge results, analyzing a user's search, and then offering suggestions for related topics and publications at the top of the results screen.  It uses a variety of techniques to map a user's search terms to relevant items in ProQuest's controlled vocabulary. These techniques analyze index term occurrence patterns, as well as comparing a user's current search against previously run searches.

Since its launch, ProQuest Smart Search has attracted significant interest from the library and information sector worldwide. Soon after it was launched ProQuest Smart Search was rated a perfect five stars for "Searchability" in the The Charleston Advisor, by reviewer David Bickford, University Librarian at the University of Phoenix.

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™  electronic and microform resources, UMI® microform and print reference products, Library®, SIRS®  and Voyager Expanded Learning educational resources.  For more information about ProQuest Information and Learning, visit www.il.proquest.com.