Bepress, the Berkeley Electronic Press, based in Berkeley, California, was founded by academics to improve the scholarly publishing model. One of its goals is to create comprehensive repositories promoting one-stop shopping for researchers. ProQuest Information and Learning, a unit of ProQuest Company, creates and publishes databases for libraries and educational institutions worldwide.
Institutional repositories are an ideal way to capture, preserve, and disseminate the intellectual output of a university, consortium, or discipline-specific organization. Libraries that use Digital Commons @ will be able to offer key services such as full-text searching, export to XML, full support for OAI, personalized email notification for new updates, and more. These features cannot be matched by any so-called freeware solutions available on the market.
Additionally, ProQuest can provide a head start on content and reinforce credibility for its Digital Commons @ customers by immediately loading all of an academic library’s dissertation content – creating an immediate critical mass of valuable content at no cost to the library.
“Electronic repositories are an ideal way for a university to showcase all its assets under one site, and will enable funding agencies and other bodies to view the depth and breadth of information produced by the institution. The program is a natural extension of what we do at ProQuest, leveraging our heritage and experience as a library services company,” said Austin McLean, director of scholarly communication and dissertations publishing for ProQuest.
Digital Commons @ has experienced rapid market acceptance. Two prestigious academic institutions, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of New Brunswick, will be using the new service.
Libraries may receive more information by contacting their account representative at 1-800-521-0600, ext. 2793 (outside the U.S., call +44-1-223-215-512) or umisalesinfo@il.proquest.com . Editors may call 1-800-521-0600, ext. 6489 or email pr@il.proquest.com .
About Bepress
Bepress, the Berkeley Electronic Press, was founded by academics to address the inefficiencies that characterize the current scholarly publishing model. It is the founders’ core belief that mechanisms can be developed to streamline the publication process, creating tangible benefits for authors, editors, readers, and libraries. The Berkeley Electronic Press promotes the following goals: Peer review, scholar-led innovations in publishing; alternative production and dissemination of scholarship; reduction in costs of, and barriers to, access; new electronic journals in underserved and emerging disciplines; and comprehensive repositories promoting "one-stop shopping" for researchers.
About ProQuest Information and Learning
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-HealeyTM electronic and microform resources, UMI® microform and print reference products, eLibrary® and SIRS® educational resources, and XanEdu® online faculty and student resources. For more information about ProQuest Information and Learning, visit www.il.proquest.com.
ProQuest Information and Learning is a business unit of ProQuest Company (www.proquestcompany.com), which was recently named one of the 100 fastest growing technology companies in the United States by Business 2.0.
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