ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN, July 7, 2005 -- ProQuest Information and Learning's acclaimed CultureGrams™ product line expanded with the release of World Conflicts Today. The unique online resource examines seven ongoing world conflicts and explains their history, complexity, and current status to students in clear, straightforward terms. ProQuest Information and Learning creates and publishes databases for libraries and educational institutions worldwide.

"This is a ground-breaking product," said Al De Seta, President of K-12, ProQuest Information and Learning. "It's difficult to find accurate, unbiased coverage of these conflicts. Unlike most free internet sites, the reports written for World Conflicts Today were developed independent of any political agenda."

Each online report averages 80 pages and, focuses on a single conflict, exploring its past, present and implications for the future. Developed with input from hundreds of primary and secondary sources written from multiple perspectives, the reports synthesize news articles, treatises, and editorial commentary, helping students digest complex issues. Academic experts working in relevant fields were used as reviewers to ensure the accuracy and objectivity of the content. Support material integrates reference content with curriculum standards and classroom activities.

World Conflicts Today is designed for secondary school students and educators. Content can also find application in libraries, universities and colleges, business, and government. It includes primary source documents, images, interactive maps, timelines, statistics, a glossary and ideas for the classroom. Conflicts were selected for inclusion based upon several factors, including their longevity, timeliness, relevance to researchers, general level of interest and geographic coverage. In its first release World Conflicts Today includes reports on Colombia, Darfur Sudan, Jammu and Kashmir, the Korean Peninsula, Northern Ireland, and the Palestinian Territories.

Originally developed at Brigham Young University in 1974, CultureGrams became part of the ProQuest family of products in 2004. CultureGrams products have become renowned since their inception for their powerful combination of in-depth information, in-country perspective, and consistent, easy-to-use format.

About ProQuest Information and Learning

ProQuest Information and Learning is a world leader in collecting, organizing, and publishing information worldwide for researchers, faculty, and students in libraries and schools. Known widely for its strength in business and economics, general reference, humanities, social sciences, and STM content, the company develops premium databases comprising periodicals, newspapers, dissertations, out-of-print books, and other scholarly information from more than 8,500 publishers worldwide. Users access the information through the ProQuest® Web-based online information system, Chadwyck-Healey™ electronic and microform resources, UMI® microform and print reference products, eLibrary®, SIRS® and Voyager Expanded Learning educational resources, and XanEdu® online faculty and student resources. For more information about ProQuest Information and Learning, visit www.il.proquest.com.

ProQuest Information and Learning is a business unit of ProQuest Company (http://www.proquestcompany.com), which was recently named one of the top 100 fastest growing technology companies in the United States by Business 2.0 and one of the 200 best small companies by Forbes.