ANN ARBOR, Mich., January 12, 2006 - ProQuest Smart Search received the award for "Best Specialist Search Product" at the International Information Industry Awards ceremony held at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on November 30, 2005. The award is presented annually to 'the most innovative product that best helps a user through the search experience' and attracts nominations from information specialists across the globe. Prior winners were Google and Fast ESP.

"We are proud to be recognized for the prestigious 'Best Specialist Search Product' for ProQuest Smart Search", says Suzanne BeDell, Vice President of Publishing. "This technology has been embraced by all levels of users, from novices to those familiar with constructing Boolean queries.  We are very pleased with how Smart Search works for and with the user to provide better results, rather than just more results."

Originally released in late 2004, ProQuest Smart Search has been refined and developed throughout 2005.  Globally, usage statistics have increase search success and accuracy by more than 20% (as measured by ProQuest through extensive user testing). 

ProQuest Smart Search taps into ProQuest's powerful indexing to supercharge results, analyzing a user's search, and then offering suggestions for related topics and publications at the top of the results screen.  It uses a variety of techniques to map a user's search terms to relevant items in ProQuest's controlled vocabulary. These techniques analyze index term occurrence patterns, as well as comparing a user's current search against previously run searches.

Since its launch, ProQuest Smart Search has attracted significant interest from the library and information sector worldwide. Soon after it was launched ProQuest Smart Search was rated a perfect five stars for "Searchability" in the The Charleston Advisor, by reviewer David Bickford, University Librarian at the University of Phoenix.

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.