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Questia Reveals Development of Revolutionary Online Research
Service
Will deliver on the true promise of the Internet by providing access to the wealth of human knowledge.
Houston TX (April 4, 2000) Questia Media, Inc., a new media venture driven by an extraordinary team of experienced leaders and visionaries, today revealed the development of a revolutionary online research service that will deliver on the true promise of the Internet by providing access to the wealth of human knowledge. Through ongoing funding projected to total $210 million during this year and next, Questia is building the first online service to provide unlimited access to the full text of hundreds of thousands of books, journals and periodicals, as well as tools to easily use this information. For millions of college students, the QuestiaSM service will enable them to research and compose their papers at any time, from every connected corner of the world.
“Throughout history, many people have struggled with inadequate access to knowledge,”noted Questia founder and CEO Troy Williams. “Important events such as Gutenberg's printing press and the emergence of the public library have made books accessible to larger audiences. Yet still today, many people struggle with inadequate access to knowledge. Even those with access to the world's largest libraries cannot avoid the fact that books are finite resources that are available to only one person at a time a limitation on access that Questia overcomes.”
“Questia is different from most eBusinesses,” Williams continued. “Most have been merely translating today's brick-and-mortar activities to the Internet, converting brochures into websites or setting up eCommerce to sell goods and services online. But none of this activity really delivers on the promise of the Internet -- to provide access to the wealth of human knowledge. By digitizing the books most needed by college students, by making them accessible to all students at any time, and by hyperlinking footnotes and references to the precise page cited, Questia is creating a revolutionary research tool that enables users to instantaneously follow a complete train of thought from one book to another. This has never before been accomplished in the history of human learning, and it offers the possibility to truly change how people learn,” Williams concluded.
Similar to a traditional library model, emerging Internet-based library and electronic book services are limited by the actual number of copyrighted books they purchase one copy of a book can only be accessed by one person at a time. In contrast, Questia will offer a complete research service with rights secured directly from publishers so that an unlimited number of people may access a given book at a given time.
Questia expects to have a robust 50,000 volumes digitized in early 2001 and is projected to have over 250,000 within three years that's greater than the number of volumes in over 80 percent of all academic libraries in the United States.
Substantial investment in people and dollars
Questia has quietly amassed over $45 million dollars in venture funding from the venture capital firm TA Associates of Boston and individuals, and has grown in just a few months to over 200 employees in Houston and New York.
“The Questia vision is so compelling that we have been able to attract the very best talent to our team,” said Williams. “Compaq co-founder Rod Canion, Enron chairman and chief executive officer Ken Lay both extraordinary visionaries in their own right are on our board of directors and actively participating in our mission. With the recent funding from TA Associates, senior managing partner Andy McLane also joins the board. Moreover, we have built an experienced senior management team from the publishing, Internet, and computer industries that is absolutely first-rate. Finally, we have enrolled important academic and publishing partners,” Williams said.
Williams founded Questia Media, Inc. in 1998 after completing Harvard Law School. He formulated the vision, enrolled others, built a prototype of the service and secured venture funding much of this from a small Houston apartment furnished with nothing but a folding table, a PC, and a five-dollar plastic chair.
Experienced business leaders on the management team include: Tim Harris, former vice president for Compaq (NYSE: CPQ), as VP of finance, chief financial officer and chief operating officer; Linda Raglan Cunningham, former senior vice president for HarperCollins Publishers, as VP of publishing; Randy Dragon, former vice president of technical operations for Disney Online (NYSE: DIS), as VP and chief technology officer; Todd Papke, former vice president of Internet technology for Shop At Home, as VP of engineering; Kathleen Harrington Clark, former director of advertising for Compaq, as VP of marketing; David Cabello, former senior vice president, general counsel and secretary for Compaq, as VP, general counsel and secretary; Mary Ryder, former vice president of operations for First Data Corporation/TeleCheck (NYSE: FDC), as VP of customer support; and Charles Winder, former vice president of operations for Compaq, as VP of operations. A roster of brilliant young Internet visionaries with diverse backgrounds and experiences rounds out the senior management team.
Compelling benefits to students
The QuestiaSM service will be live at www.questia.com in early 2001 (near start of the second semester of the 2000-2001 academic year) with at least 50,000 of the most valued volumes in the liberal arts from the 20th and 21st centuries (not including textbooks). This initial online collection will offer access to a range of titles that are today -- for all practical purposes -- out of reach of many students. With a monthly subscription fee and an existing Internet connection, students will be able to search the online collection, research related references, view the actual pages of individual titles, and compose and save their papers online.
For college students doing research papers, the QuestiaSM service will become the indispensable tool for researching and writing. “Today, it is unthinkable for a student to compose a paper on a typewriter; the PC-based word processor is the tool of choice. Very soon, it will be unthinkable for a student to research and write a paper without using the Questia service,” Williams declared.
Compelling benefits to publishers
For publishers, Questia represents a tremendous opportunity to increase revenues.
Questia has developed a way for publishers to receive revenue each time a student accesses even a single page of a title. This has never been possible before. Thus, older titles and out-of-print books that have been read and studied thousands of times over the years in libraries (yet have not generated new income) will now produce new revenues and become more valuable assets to publishers.
Moreover, current industry trends show that traditional individual copy sales of titles benefit from exposure on the web because consumers are more inclined to buy books they can browse online. Questia will make it easier and more convenient for subscribers to locate, search, and browse an entire library of books, vastly increasing awareness of previously hard-to-find titles.
In sum, Questia offers publishers a new opportunity to revitalize older titles and to broaden the audience and gain exposure for newer titles. Through this, they can gain additional revenues for all titles that would otherwise have been unrealized.
Compelling benefits to librarians and professors
For librarians and professors, Questia offers a new valuable tool that facilitates their goal of helping students to find the right information effectively and efficiently. The Questia search function alone to be offered to all at no charge allows librarians or professors to find the exact volumes and pages that can answer a student's question. Because the research process is more efficient and less cumbersome, it will mean fewer dead-end trips to the stacks, thus allowing for more time for the mentoring and thoughtful interaction that actually foster a love of discovery and learning.
About Questia
Founded in 1998, Questia Media, Inc. is building the first online service to provide unlimited access to the full text of hundreds of thousands of books, journals and periodicals, as well as tools to easily use this information. For millions of college students and researchers, the QuestiaSM service will enable them to efficiently research and compose papers at any time, from every connected corner of the world. Based in Houston, TX with over 200 employees, Questia is delivering on the true promise of the Internet by providing access to the wealth of human knowledge. Information can be found at www.questia.com.
Media:
Richards/Gravelle Public Relations
Stacie Barnett (214) 891-2910
stacie_barnett@richards.com
Investors
Tim Harris, Questia Media, Inc.
713-358-2642
tharris@questia.com
Supporting Quotes
“Questia's revolutionary use of the Internet provides a true win/win situation for students, scholars and publishers. Its vast online collection of academic texts facilitates broader and more accurate research and makes rare but important classic titles available to a widespread audience. Questia will no doubt become the standard electronic tool for conducting thorough and in-depth searches for all academic work, from term papers to theses to dissertations.”
- Bill Hamilton, director of The University of Hawai'i Press.
“Whether out-of-print or in-print, many of our titles are important tools for students. Questia's online collection will enable students to find these books and journals at the very moment they are needed. Our authors are pleased to know their work is highly valued by students and researchers, and that now it will be securely and readily available on Questia's website.”
- Vicky Wells, rights and contracts manager for The University of North Carolina Press.
“We believe that Questia's pioneering use of the Internet as a sophisticated reference tool will be of enormous value to students and researchers. We are delighted to be part of it.”
- Daniel Ross, director, The University of Nebraska Press.
