Information resources and technologies provider Proquest, US, unveiled latest developments for its all-new platform at the American Library Association Conference in Washington, DC. Highly anticipated for its promise to unify all ProQuest content in a single framework, the new platform will now include ProQuest Extended Search, a Serials Solutions technology that will enable libraries to connect to other non-ProQuest databases as well. The ProQuest platform is the highlight of a wave of new technology being released by the company throughout 2010 and beyond. ProQuest will begin migrating customers to the new platform in late summer.
ProQuest Extended Search will enable libraries to enrich results by building connections to databases from other providers, using Serials Solution's clustering technology. Libraries will simply choose the databases they want to add from thousands of options and Serials Solutions will manage the connections for them. The new platform's sophisticated technology tools will enable users to save, organise, and manipulate all the content - whether from ProQuest or not - in personal accounts.
ProQuest is also expanding the platform's content manipulation tools. As the platform develops, users will move beyond consuming content to consuming and creating content. The company is exploring this user role with the launch, earlier this year, of a variety of vertical social networks that connect scholars in subject disciplines.
The platform's all-new technology architecture is built from scratch and designed 'for purpose.' The agile development process was informed by 'personas' - a dozen highly detailed user profiles - and regular testing with live subjects from every user group. The platform is a blend of new technologies and user-favourites from other legacy ProQuest and its brand family platforms.
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