ANN ARBOR, Mich., June 15, 2004 - ProQuest Information and Learning has acquired the assets of Axiom Press, Inc. (Lindon, Utah), publisher and distributor of the CultureGrams family of reference materials. CultureGrams offer concise, reliable, and up-to-date reports on the countries and cultures of the world. Axiom Press is a wholly owned subsidiary of Geolux Communications, Inc. ProQuest Information and Learning, a unit of ProQuest Company, creates and publishes databases for libraries and educational institutions worldwide.

CultureGrams is a widely used cultural reference product for education, government, and non-profit users. It is available in print and electronically via the World Wide Web. The product line was originally developed at Brigham Young University beginning in 1974.

"CultureGrams content is unique by virtue of its editorial process, which brings together a network of authors and researchers around the world," said Al De Seta, president of K-12, ProQuest Information and Learning. "Data is compiled locally and organized centrally. This powerful combination allows for in-depth information that is gathered first-hand and presented in a consistent, easy-to-use format.

"The information in CultureGrams is not easily replicated. It is of particular value to students who rely on its high quality and easy accessibility. The nature of this information is highly complementary to our SIRS® and eLibrary® databases because of the local coverage and context CultureGrams brings. And it supports our vision of creating integrated products that support student research."

"We are excited and delighted to have ProQuest as our buyer of choice. We had many suitors, but chose ProQuest because of the complement and fit of both organizations," said Kristine Widtfeldt, president, Axiom Press, Inc.

In addition to 181 country profiles, CultureGrams offers profiles of each state in the United States and 65 "Kids' Editions" of country profiles. A sample country report is available at: http://www.culturegrams.com/demo/world/worldpdfs/Bulgaria.pdf. More information about the product line is available at www.culturegrams.com.

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™ and SIRS® educational resources, and XanEdu™ online faculty and student resources.  For more information about ProQuest Information and Learning, visit www.il.proquest.com.