ANN ARBOR, Mich., June 28, 2004 - ProQuest Information and Learning announces exclusive rights to distribute a new product, Ancestry Library Edition, from MyFamily.com, Inc., in the library market. The new agreement gives ProQuest the two premier genealogy resources: HeritageQuest Online™, ProQuest's popular library genealogy and family history database, and Ancestry Library Edition, an enhanced edition of MyFamily.com's popular consumer genealogy database, Ancestry.com. Ancestry Library Edition will replace the Ancestry Plus database for current subscribers. ProQuest Information and Learning creates and publishes databases to libraries and educational institutions worldwide.

MyFamily.com, based in Provo, Utah, publishes electronic and print resources for family historians.  Key collections in Ancestry Library Edition include:

• Immigration Collection: New York Passenger Lists, San Francisco Passenger Lists, and New York Petitions for Naturalization
• U.S. Data Collection including U.S. Birth, Marriage and Death Collection, World War I Draft Registration Cards, and Social Security Death Index
• U.S. Census Collection including U.S. Census 1790-1930 images and indexes
• UK and Ireland Collection including England and Wales Census Images and Indexes, England and Wales Civil Registration Index 1837-present, and England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales Parish and probate records 1500s-1837

"The resources in Ancestry Library Edition are an excellent complement to HeritageQuest Online. By providing both databases to libraries, we're able to meet more fully libraries' needs for genealogical, demographic, and historical research. The agreement is a great fit for customers in this rapidly growing research area, for both hobbyists and professionals.  Users will gain rich sources of content and search tools for illuminating their ancestry," said Rod Gauvin, ProQuest senior vice president, marketing and publishing.

ProQuest will continue to distribute Heritage Quest and all its component data sets of the US Census, the PERiodical Source Index (PERSI) and Genealogical and Local History Collection (G&LH).  Freedman’s Bank Records and the Revolutionary War Pension Records are also slated to be added to HeritageQuest Online.

The popularity of genealogy is on the rise, according to a Maritz Marketing Research poll conducted three years ago. According to the poll, 60 percent of Americans said they are at least "somewhat interested" in tracing their family history. This figure compares to a similar Maritz Poll that was conducted in 1995, in which 45 percent of Americans said they were at least "somewhat involved" with genealogy.

Information about subscriptions to Ancestry Library Edition will be forthcoming.  Free trials of HeritageQuest Online are available. 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 6489 or email pr@il.proquest.com.

About MyFamily.com
MyFamily.com, Inc. provides the largest and most popular collection of online information for connecting families with their histories and with one another.  The company's tools, content and community empower individuals to find the people most important to them, and to discover and share their unique family stories.  The MyFamily network of web-based products includes MyFamily.com, Ancestry.com, Genealogy.com, and Roots.com.  The company also publishes Family Tree Maker®, the #1 selling family tree software, Ancestry Magazine, Genealogical Computing Magazine, more than 50 book titles, and numerous databases in CD-ROM.  For more information about MyFamily.com, visit www.myfamily.com or contact pr@myfamilyinc.com.
 

About ProQuest
ProQuest creates specialized information resources and technologies that propel successful research, discovery, and lifelong learning. A global leader in serving libraries of all types, ProQuest offers the expertise of such respected brands as Chadwyck-Healey™, UMI®, SIRS®, and eLibrary®. With Serials Solutions®, Ulrich's™, RefWorks®, COS™, Dialog® and now Bowker® part of the ProQuest brand family, the company supports the breadth of the information community with innovative discovery solutions that power the business of books and the best in research experience.

More than a content provider or aggregator, ProQuest is an information partner, creating indispensable research solutions that connect people and information. Through innovative, user-centered discovery technology, ProQuest offers billions of pages of global content that includes historical newspapers, dissertations, and uniquely relevant resources for researchers of any age and sophistication—including content not likely to be digitized by others. Inspired by its customers and their end users, ProQuest is working toward a future that blends information accessibility with community to further enhance learning and encourage lifelong enrichment.

For more information, visit www.proquest.com or the ProQuest parent company website, www.cig.com.