CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom, January 12, 2004 - ProQuest Information and Learning announced today a new long-term agreement to distribute content for Dow Jones & Company , publisher of the world's most vital business and financial news . The new contract with the New York-based media company extends an agreement in place since 1997. ProQuest Information and Learning, a unit of ProQuest Company (NYSE:PQE), creates and distributes databases to libraries and educational institutions worldwide.

The agreement includes the distribution of the following Dow Jones titles electronically and on microform: The Wall Street Journal; Barron’s; The Asian Wall Street Journal; The Wall Street Journal Europe; Far Eastern Economic Review; Central European Review; and The Wall Street Journal Classroom Edition. ProQuest features the Dow Jones publications in ProQuest Newsstand^™, ProQuest Historical Newspapers^™, and the ABI/INFORM^® business database suite, among others.

As part of the new agreement, Dow Jones will participate in the perpetual access program of ProQuest Historical Newspapers. With this new program, libraries will be able to purchase perpetual access to significant portions of The Wall Street Journal in the ProQuest Historical Newspapers product in addition to the program's subscription options.

“The newly available perpetual access rights extend a cherished franchise for our customers. We know how much they value and use the Dow Jones resources. The new agreement ensures their continued access to the materials through ProQuest for many years to come,” said Steven Hall, ProQuest senior vice president, publishing.

IRIS is the Consortium of Irish University and Research Libraries, its members being the libraries of DCU, NUI Galway, TCD, UL, UCC and Enterprise Ireland.

IRIS provides a ‘virtual’ union catalogue to enable simultaneous cross-searching of its members’ and other major research library catalogues. IRIS was originally established in 1993 as a project under the EU Telematique Programme. In addition to the resource discovery function of the virtual catalogue, further development will enable the management of interlibrary loans and document supply among its members and other libraries.

More recently, IRIS has assumed a role in the negotiation of consortial purchase deals for electronic resources. EEBO is the first of these to be finalised on behalf of all but one of the universities and the National Library. A major saving of funds was achieved through this consortial approach to purchase, and IRIS hopes to facilitate the consortial procurement of other valuable research material in the future.

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.