ANN ARBOR, Mich., January 14, 2005 - ProQuest Information and Learning, in association with the New York Public Library and the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, announces the upcoming release of Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience. The new electronic database, set for mid-year release, will offer exciting new tools for innovative Black Studies research and teaching for scholars and students in both academic and public libraries. ProQuest Information and Learning, a unit of ProQuest Company, is an electronic publisher of content for libraries and educational institutions worldwide.

The new database will offer breadth of coverage and original content around a core collection of more than 30 critical review essays of the state of research and scholarship on selected themes by leading academics covering current and historical aspects of Black Studies.  The scholars will also select the seminal essays and articles that one must read to ground oneself intellectually in the selected theme. Among the themes treated in this on-line collection are: African-American Religion; the slave trade and slavery; the performance arts popular culture, the visual arts; African Americans in the military, the black family, the literary tradition and blacks in science.  Primary and secondary sources include fully digitized articles, book chapters, dissertations, and unpublished historical and gray literature. 

The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture is one of the world's leading research facilities devoted to the preservation of materials on peoples of African descent throughout the world.  Part of the New York Public Library, it is located in Harlem  .  The Center’s collections include art objects, audio and videotapes, books, manuscripts, motion pictures, newspapers, periodicals, photographs, prints, recorded music, and sheet music.

Howard Dodson, Director of the Schomburg Center and Managing Editor of the project said:  “The Schomburg Center is pleased to join with ProQuest in making this decade-long dream a reality.  The Schomburg Studies on the Black Experience project promises to make significant contributions to research and teaching in the field of Black Studies.”

The essays will take a multi-disciplinary approach to history, literature, religion, sociology, and more. For public libraries, the database will offer a central point of access to information on the black experience that serves a core need of minority user populations.  It will help all libraries leverage existing resources through Open URL linking.

Other features include:

• Multi-thematic timelines with hyperlinks to content and images
• Glossary with both mouse-over and extended-view definitions
• Table of contents with each essay for easy browsing
• OpenURL-compliant theme bibliographies
• Multi-media library of images and video

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 The Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture

The Schomburg  Centerfor Research in Black Culture is a national research library devoted to collecting, preserving, and providing access to resources documenting the experiences of peoples of African descent throughout the world. The Center's collections first won international acclaim in 1926 when the personal collection of the distinguished Puerto Rican-born Black scholar and bibliophile, Arturo Alfonso Schomburg, was added to the Division of Negro Literature, History and Prints of the 135th StreetBranch of The New York Public Library. Schomburg served as Curator from 1932 until his death in 1938. Renamed in his honor in 1940, the collection grew steadily through the years. In 1972 it was designated as one of The Research Libraries of The New York Public Library and became the Schomburg  Centerfor Research in Black Culture. Today, the Schomburg  Centercontains over 5,000,000 items and provides services and programs for constituents from the United Statesand abroad. For more information, visit http://www.nypl.org/press/schomburgbg.cfm

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.