Glasgow Caledonian University Expands Research Content by Upgrading to Award-Winning ProQuest Central

Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) is joining university libraries around the world that are subscribing to ProQuest Central, a CODiE award-winning database. Students, researchers and lecturing staff at the university -- a leader in international research in Health and Life Sciences, the Built and Natural Environment and Engineering -- will now have access to the world’s largest, full-text, multidisciplinary, aggregated database.

“GCU always looks to adopt innovative, modern and flexible information and communication technologies to help us deliver our broadly based curriculum,” said Debbi Boden, GCU’s Director of Library Services in Information Services. “Adopting ProQuest Central as a key element of our e-portfolio is perfectly representative of that goal.”

“ProQuest Central enables GCU to not only expand its existing portfolio of content to support their world-leading and RAE rated research, but to centralize content into one digital resource,” said Mary Sauer-Games, Senior Vice President, Higher Education Publishing at ProQuest. “Furthermore this supports the fact that many students study at a distance at GCU but can still have access to the library’s resources. ProQuest Central is not only cost-effective for GCU, but much more straightforward to administer in a single interface.”

ProQuest and GCU have a long-standing relationship.  The university subscribes to a number of ProQuest’s products, including ABI/INFORM, UK Newsstand, ProQuest Science Journals and ProQuest Health Management. “We have already established the quality and reliability of ProQuest products,” said Marian Miller Senior Librarian & Resource Manager at GCU.  “And as a result of this upgrade to ProQuest Central, we will gain access to more than 3,000 additional journals, an additional 10,000 full-text dissertations, 700 newspapers, thousands of valuable company profiles and industry reports, and videos.”

ProQuest Central is a premier general reference research database resource.   Designed to be a single point for research needs, it has in-depth coverage of more than 160 subject areas, including business, science and technology, medicine and health, literature and language, society and culture, the arts and history.  The resource includes a wealth of content, including periodicals, working papers, dissertations, company records and other grey material.  It also includes varied multimedia content such as nursing procedure videos and cultural competency reports to assist health service professionals.

To learn more about the ProQuest Central visit www.proquest.com.

About Glasgow Caledonian University
One of the United Kingdom's most dynamic universities, Glasgow Caledonian offers a modern, cosmopolitan environment for learning, teaching and applied research.

The university has particular teaching and research strengths in the fields of health, the environment and society. Glasgow Caledonian is rated among the top 10 in the United Kingdom for its allied health research and in the top 20 in the built and natural environment.

Glasgow Caledonian University’s mission is to provide a high quality, accessible, inclusive and flexible learning and teaching environment enhanced by curiosity driven research. It applies its knowledge and skills for the social and economic benefit of the communities it serves in Scotland and around the world.

In September 2010, the university will open a new London campus to deliver its professional master’s programmes in banking & finance, risk, fashion & luxury, tourism and construction direct from the capital.  It also assists with the operation of the Grameen Caledonian College of Nursing in Bangladesh and has since 1996 run a successful joint venture in Oman, the Caledonian College of Engineering.

The university is made up of six academic schools:

• Built & Natural Environment
• Caledonian Business School
• Engineering & Computing
• Health
• Law & Social Sciences
• Life Sciences

About ProQuest

ProQuest creates specialized information resources and technologies that provide the most successful ways for people to search, find, use, and share information.

A global leader in serving libraries of all types, ProQuest offers the expertise of such respected brands as UMI®, Chadwyck-Healey™, 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 level and sophistication—including content not likely to be digitized by others.

The company is nearing launch of an all-new platform that will transform delivery of several highly-regarded individual platforms into a consolidated research experience that will encompass all ProQuest family products over time. 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, please visit www.proquest.com.