ANN ARBOR, Mich., January 9, 2004 - David Belasco, Joaquin Miller, Clyde Fitch and James Herne are among the leading post-Civil War playwrights just added to American Drama 1714-1915, the largest and most comprehensive electronic collection of early American dramatic writing. ProQuest Information and Learning's third release brings the online collection to more than 1,100 dramatic works from the colonial period to the beginning of the 20th century. ProQuest Information and Learning, a unit of ProQuest Company, creates and publishes databases for libraries and educational institutions worldwide.

American Drama reflects American dramatic writing in all its richness and diversity: plays in verse, farces, melodramas, minstrel shows, realist plays, frontier plays, temperance dialogues and a range of other genres are represented. The collection creates context for frequently studied plays by major dramatists with their lesser-known contemporaries and rare and rediscovered plays.

American Drama covers two full centuries of rare and classic dramatic works that together form the internationally recognized voice that is American theatre: It includes the first American play, the first African-American play and extensive coverage of American women playwrights - 153 plays so far.

The newest release allows users to pinpoint results with two new search fields, Nationality and Ethnicity. The former allows users to restrict searches to works by European dramatists (such as Dion Boucicault) and plays adapted by American dramatists from foreign originals. MARC records are also available now.

The fourth release, scheduled for early 2004, will complete the database with additions up to 1915, with a total of 2,000 plays and a new interface with additional functionality. It will include African-American content for the post-Civil War era and the emergence of other ethnic dramatic writing, including women writers not always known for their dramatic contributions – Louisa May Alcott, Emma Lazarus.

Users may access the hard-to-find works with the collection's powerful search capabilities. ProQuest's pioneering indexing offers 10 search fields and 18 search limiters across all 2,000 plays in the complete database. Concise information on the literary and theatrical context of the plays in American Drama is provided by newly commissioned author biographies. Plays are also cross-searchable according to a range of criteria, including date and place of first performance and the nationality and ethnicity of the author.

American Drama 1714-1915 is available to all institutions that subscribe to Literature Online or as a stand-alone purchase. Free trials 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 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.