New eLibrary Redesign Gives Novice Researchers a Jump-Start
ANN ARBOR, MI, April 12, 2018 – Novice researchers now have a better way to begin a research project and quickly find reliable information to support their themes and ideas. The easy-to-use eLibrary® online resource has a new look and feel that helps K-12 and other students start and successfully complete assignments.
One of the resources selected for statewide support of California’s 10,000 schools and 6.2 million students, the eLibrary solution features a rich collection of full-text, editorially-created content on thousands of research topics that span more than 150 subject areas – people, places, historical events, current events, broad curricular themes and more. The new eLibrary interface responds to students’ demands for visual-appeal and intuitive design. Its Research Topics pages are easy to find and display the most common assignments and subjects up front, simplifying user workflows. The site’s responsive design is optimized for any screen, including mobile. And it’s now available on the ProQuest® platform so users can cross-search its material with their institution’s other ProQuest content, improving discovery.
The new eLibrary design is based on extensive user research that revealed the most profound challenges for novice researchers. For example, selecting a topic was identified as the most stressful research-related task. The eLibrary platform addresses that challenge by guiding users to interesting and approved topics. Content is curated by editorial specialists for appropriateness and reliability. Users are pointed to vetted sources like newspapers, magazines, transcripts, reference books, images, maps, websites and videos.
“Research can be incredibly overwhelming for a novice user. The new eLibrary helps make the process simpler and more engaging,” said Larry Wilkner, product manager, ProQuest Information Solutions. “Our goal for eLibrary is to enable institutions to set their users up for academic success.”
eLibrary includes features such as Google Classroom and Google Drive integration and Lexile® reading levels, and it aligns to curriculum standards. Features like text-to-speech and language translation ensure accessibility for researchers from all backgrounds.
About ProQuest (http://www.proquest.com)
ProQuest is committed to supporting the important work happening in the world’s research and learning communities. The company curates content that matters to the advancement of knowledge, assembling an archive of billions of vetted, indexed documents. It simplifies workflows so that people and institutions use time effectively. And because ProQuest connects information communities, complex networks of systems and processes work together efficiently. With ProQuest, finding answers and deriving insights is straightforward and leads to extraordinary outcomes.
ProQuest and its companies and affiliates – Ex Libris, Alexander Street, Bowker – stand for better research, better learning, better insights. ProQuest enables people to change their world.