CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom, August 5, 2005 - ProQuest Information and Learning said today that it will offer higher education institutions across Africa free and heavily discounted access to the company's newly launched online edition of the African Writers Series .

ProQuest earlier this year unveiled Release One of the new electronic version of the acclaimed African Writers Series, the first volumes of which were published in print in 1962 by Heinemann Educational Books. Approximately 360 subsequent volumes were published in the series by Heinemann from 1962 to 2003.

Release One of  ProQuest's new online version contains 65 volumes drawn from the original series. It features fiction, poetry, drama and nonfiction works by writers, such as Ama Ata Aidoo, Mongo Beti, Steve Biko, Dennis Brutus, Cyprian Ekwensi, Buchi Emecheta, Bessie Head, Chenjerai Hove, Jack Mapanje and Veronique Tadjo.

Release Two, expected to be released later this year, will include works by Kofi Awoonor, Nadine Gordimer (winner of the 1991 Nobel Prize for Literature), Taban lo Liyong, Gabriel Okara and Tayib Salih, among numerous others.

By 2007, ProQuest expects to have published all the works in the original Heinemann series for which electronic publishing rights have been secured.

“As African nations won independence, leading writers began to forge distinctive national literatures throughout the continent. Independence also led to a demand from African schools and universities for contemporary African writing to replace the European bias of existing syllabuses,” said Duncan Campbell, Publisher, Literature, at ProQuest. “The African Writers Series took on this role and published work by all the major authors of this period, together with classic earlier texts and new writing. It has a unique place in the histories of both African culture and global publishing, and we are privileged to be associated with such a distinguished series.”

Added Campbell , “In reviving the series, we have a responsibility to recognise its historical origins and political legacy. We are committed to ensuring that access to this new edition for African educational institutions is as broad and comprehensive as possible."

Each volume in the new online series is reproduced from the original print volumes as fully as possible, including accompanying text by the author, introductions, notes, glossaries and other editorial matter, as well as illustrations.

"The publication of this historic collection in online form restores access to a substantial body of literature, much of which is out of print and only accessible in specialist libraries, and opens up new possibilities for scholarship and teaching in the fields of African and literary studies," ProQuest's Campbell said.

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.