SANTA BARBARA, Calif.—September 4, 2001—ABC-CLIO, the award-winning, independent reference publisher, today launched greatly enhanced versions of its two historical databases, Historical Abstracts and America: History and Life.

Historical Abstracts and America: History and Life, established in 1955 and 1964 respectively, are invaluable research tools for students, scholars and historians. They contain abstracts of journal articles and book reviews pertaining to the history of the world, with more than 16,000 new abstracts added to each database every year. Both databases were brought to the web in 1998.

The new versions feature three new enhancements:

• CLIO Notes for Historical Abstracts. CLIO Notes for America: History and Life was released last year. This research guide for survey course students features concise overviews of 16 historical periods in five regions of the world outside North America; detailed chronologies to give context to the events and issues of each period; topic suggestions for papers and class discussions; and guided searching using selected terms and search strategies to ensure optimal results.

• CLIO Alert, an automatic e-mail feature that helps users stay current in their fields of interest. Users are sent monthly e-mails of newly added abstracts from Historical Abstracts and America: History and Life that meet the users specific research criteria.

• A new second search screen, Simple Search. Users have the option of searching the databases either through the Simple Search screen using only two search fields or through the Advanced Search screen using multiple search fields.

"We’re very pleased to include these new services and features in our academic serials products. Enhancements such as these help to keep our database products at the forefront of history research publications. Many of the features in this new release of these products were developed at the request of customers," said Vicky Speck, Editorial Director of Serials.

Established in 1955, ABC-CLIO is a privately held corporation. It has for many years enjoyed an international reputation for high quality and innovation. The company is headquartered in Santa Barbara, California, with offices in Denver, Colorado, and Oxford, England. As an educational reference publisher, ABC-CLIO has received critical acclaim for its computer-assisted abstracting and indexing services, world-renowned book program, and cutting-edge online products.

If you would like a password for review, please contact Tara Guentz at 800-368-6868 x359, or email tguentz@abc-clio.com. If you live outside the U.S. or Canada, please contact Suzanne Wheatley at swheatley@abc-clio.ltd.uk.