ProQuest launched its new expanded service with the digitization of the Zeeland Record, the tiny weekly that has served its Western Michigan community since the 1890s, when the town became a destination for Dutch settlers in the state.    The Howard Miller Library in Zeeland contracted ProQuest to digitize its 43 rolls of microfilmed issues of the Record after receiving a financial gift from the estate of a board member.   

"This is an important step in the evolution of our digital newspaper program," said Rod Gauvin, ProQuest vice president.  "Small town newspapers are particularly important resources for genealogists and students because they're often the only written history available.  Providing high-quality digital access to this history is a tremendous service for these smaller communities."

Dennis Martin, director of the Howard Miller Library, added, "Small towns and rural America make up a vital part of this nation. Too often their histories are lost and their contribution to society forgotten. Thanks to a generous gift from the Betty Shoemaker Memorial, the Howard Miller Library and the Zeeland Record are proud to be working with ProQuest to preserve Zeeland's role in the building of this great country."

ProQuest's small newspaper digitization program is nearly identical to the digitization program used for major national newspapers, such as The New York Times.  Because small newspapers have fewer articles per page, article-level searching is not required.   Instead ProQuest digitizes to the page level, making the service more affordable for small communities.  Also, each ProQuest project -- large or small – is cross-searchable within the larger database.  For example, the Zeeland Record can be searched in conjunction with The New York Times or Chicago Tribune, providing researchers with the "local angle" in the context of the larger, national story.

The expansion of the newspaper digitization program follows another milestone in ProQuest's massive Historical Newspapers project:  in April the company announced the digitization of the archives of the Chicago Defender, the oldest African American newspaper in the U.S.  The century-old Chicago Defender is part of ProQuest's upcoming Black Studies Center, and it will also be available in the Historical Newspaper archive.  The complete Historical Newspapers archive now encompasses 14 million pages of content.   

ProQuest Historical Newspapers is one of a number of products aimed at creating a total news solution for libraries.  In addition to significantly expanding the availability of digital archives, ProQuest has recently announced enhancements to its current news program including an exclusive agreement to distribute the Los Angeles Times online to library and education markets.  Earlier this month, ProQuest announced expanded agreements with MediaNews that add significant new local content, and an agreement to distribute online The Columbus Dispatch, central Ohio's largest daily.  ProQuest also launched Latin American Newsstand, which provides library patrons with comprehensive coverage of Latin America's most prestigious newspapers in their native Spanish and Portuguese languages.   Within the past 18 months, ProQuest also became distributor of NewspaperDirect, a unique delivery system through which libraries get direct, immediate access to over 250 international and domestic dailies in full-page format, allowing them to provide same-day international newspaper service to their patrons.  ProQuest's extensive current news collection now includes more than 300 full-text newspapers from around the world. 

For more information about ProQuest's news program visit on the Web at www.proquest.com or call 1-800-521-0600.

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^TM electronic and microform resources, UMI® microform and print reference products, eLibrary®, SIRS® and Voyager Expanded Learning 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 top 100 fastest growing technology companies in the United States by Business 2.0 and one of the 200 best small companies by Forbes Magazine