ProQuest Brings Exclusive American Antiquarian Society Books Online
As part of a multi-year agreement, ProQuest has added family history books from the American Antiquarian Society's (AAS) renowned collections to HeritageQuest Online, the popular digital genealogy resource. More than 600 books are now available, and nearly 7,000 books total will come online by next year. This initial phase of partnership provides the first-ever online access to the Society's family history books collection. More than 22,000 genealogy and local history books from UMI microfilm collections are already fully searchable in HeritageQuest Online.
"The addition of this collection is in keeping with ProQuest's commitment to unlock key deep archival information that will advance genealogical research," said Rod Gauvin, senior vice president of ProQuest. "This collection unveils invaluable data that extends beyond living memory, helping researchers uncover new and additional information about their families. We're pleased to partner with one of the world's premier research institutions, the American Antiquarian Society, to make this vast resource readily available through libraries - the epicenter of family history research."
Located in Worcester, Massachusetts, the American Antiquarian Society's mission is to collect, preserve, and make available the printed record of what is now the United States, from 1640 through 1876. Their exceptional collection of genealogical material focusing on early North American lines of descent, including French-Canadian genealogies, has long been highly regarded not only by genealogists, but also by scholars working on biographical, historical, and literary topics. The digitized AAS books will add hundreds of thousands of fully keyword searchable pages, allowing researchers to search for personal names, events, locations, businesses, organizations, and much more.
"As a leader in providing genealogical resources to libraries, ProQuest was a natural choice as a partner from the American Antiquarian Society in this digitizing endeavor," noted AAS president Ellen S. Dunlap, "and we were pleased that we were able to add so many new titles to this already strong collection."
In addition to digital access to the material through HeritageQuest Online, a unique and continuously expanding collection of genealogical materials that traces family lineage and local American history, ProQuest will also distribute the collection on microfilm as part of its Genealogy and Local History collection. This collection assembles and preserves genealogies, local histories, primary source materials, and genealogical and local history serials. Continuously growing, Genealogy and Local History aims to encompass materials related to all 50 states and Canada as well as Great Britain, Ireland and many other countries of immigration to North America, making it an unprecedented resource and a major preservation project.
ProQuest is a leader in the development of family history and genealogy resources. Its products provide the information researchers need to track their personal history - from vital records and primary sources to directories and finding aids such as dictionaries, bibliographies and gazetteers. In addition to HeritageQuest Online and Genealogy and Local History in microform, other ProQuest genealogy resources include: ProQuest® Obituaries, Ancestry® Library Edition, ProQuest® Historical Newspapers, Digital Sanborn® Maps, Canada's Heritage from 1844™, and UMI® Microform.
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.