ANN ARBOR, Mich., January 8, 2008 - University Mircofilms, Inc., was created in 1938 by Eugene Power to safeguard threatened scholarly resources, and has served as the dedicated steward of significant collections — including graduate works — ever since.  This year, ProQuest will celebrate that legacy with the 70th Anniversary of UMI, an imprint of ProQuest, with a champagne toast at the ProQuest booth at the ALA Midwinter conference on Saturday, January 12, at 4:00 p.m.

"ProQuest has played a very important leadership role in scholarship and as a library partner for 70 years, starting with UMI," said Boe Horton, senior vice president of research solutions for ProQuest.  "Eugene Power's vision of using UMI to preserve and makes content accessible globally is similar to the mandate of today's online publishers.  Power used the best technology of his time to provide worldwide access to information, just as ProQuest does today.   In an increasingly digital world, microform is still working as a functional and enduring archival medium.  At ALA Midwinter, we will celebrate our ongoing collaboration with libraries in connecting people to the information they need."

Long before the first computer, and decades before the first PC, floppy disc, or wiki, UMI worked to make content accessible to researchers around the world.   Even today, microform remains a perfect way to capture content and make it accessible around the world - especially for more specialized research needs.   In fact, many of ProQuest's key products would not exist without content originally preserved in film, such as: The New York Times and other ProQuest Historical Newspapers, Early English Books Online™, ProQuest Civil War Era, American Periodical Series Online™, Historical Annual Reports, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses, and the House of Commons Parliamentary Papers. 

ProQuest and UMI continue to pioneer - increasing access to titles, and eliminating the typical need experienced by publishers either to print hundreds of copies or not to publish at all. With the "view on demand" opportunity provided by microfilm from UMI, libraries can make rare titles available to their researchers even if they are out of print.  Through UMI, ProQuest is working to ensure that content is available for generations of patrons to come.