CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom, August 15, 2005 - In a major new announcement this week, ProQuest Information and Learning has been appointed to supply the Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium (SUPC) with e-books. ProQuest was appointed following a competitive tender; the first for e-books in the UK.

The SUPC serves 46 Higher Education members and 28 Further Education members in the UK . It is the largest university purchasing consortium in the UK .

The partnership enables libraries to affordably provide patrons with valuable content and research tools under their choice of several different licensing models.

SUPC concluded a four-year agreement for Safari SM Tech Books Online SM, exclusively distributed by ProQuest in the library market. The agreement ensures that full-text, online books from leading publishers available in the Safari e-reference service such as O'Reilly and the Pearson Technology Group will be delivered to SUPC member institutions

“ProQuest was chosen as the supplier for its:

• Simple and flexible pricing model which allows the institutions to choose either an individual subscription or for multiple institutions to share access and benefit from a greater discount
• High quality content from Safari Tech Books Online - started in July 2001 with a premise to take the best IT books from the best authors and publishers O'Reilly & Associates' and The Pearson Technology Group's imprints together deliver well over half the IT books published.
• Easy-to-use ProQuest platform which accommodates the novice and the more experienced user.

According to SCONUL (Society of College, National and University Libraries) expenditure on books by higher education institutions in the UK is estimated to be over £35 million per annum.

If you would like further product information please e-mail marketing@proquest.co.uk

About SUPC
Formed in 1974, the Southern Universities Purchasing Consortium aims to ensure that effective strategic purchasing is undertaken by both the Consortium and its members through developing excellent purchasing initiatives and seeking ongoing commitment to such initiatives. For more information about SUPC, visit supc.procureweb.ac.uk

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.cambridgeinformationgroup.com.