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What's the Perfect Gift For Two Million College-Bound Graduates?

New Online Library Gives Grads the Academic Edge
HOUSTON (May 7) As high school graduation approaches, friends and family struggle over finding the perfect gift to congratulate one or more of the two million college-bound grads this spring. Traditionally topping the list each year are pen and pencil sets, clocks, stationary and hot pots. This year, family and friends of graduates have a new gift choice -- a subscription to the first online library, a concept that has been widely accepted on college campuses across the country.

For less than the cost of a candy bar (or 41 cents a day for a full year), Questia offers students online access to an extensive online library which gives grads the convenience of accessing more than 35,000 full-text books and 5,000 journal articles with titles in popular subjects such as literature, art history, economics and sociology. With each research paper or study assignment, subscribers can search and read entire books; automatically create footnotes and bibliographies; gain instant access to an online dictionary, thesaurus and encyclopedia; personalize text with highlighting and margin notes; and save papers online so they can access them from anywhere, at anytime.

With the Questia service, students will be able to do research and write their papers from the comfort of their homes or dorm rooms, alleviating parents' concerns about safety during late-night library treks and eliminating the inconvenience and irritation of checked-out books, as well as not having enough quarters for the photocopier.

"First-year college students have so many new challenges," said Troy Williams, founder and chief executive officer of Questia Media, Inc. "Parents want their students to succeed and, with the convenience and depth of our online library, Questia will encourage students to devote more time delving into their topics, consulting a wider array of resources, and formulating and articulating a thesis or argument. For students, the service eliminates many of the unproductive and frustrating aspects currently associated with the paper writing process."

The Questia service has more than 40,000 books and 5,000 journal articles in the humanities and social sciences disciplines. Users are able to search the service's entire collection for free, but a subscription fee is required to read the full-text of books and to use the set of research and writing tools.

Gift-givers can go online at www.questia.com/explore/gradgift to purchase an annual subscription for $149.95. Printable gift certificates will soon be available.

About Questia
Founded in 1998, Questia Media launched its revolutionary online library with powerful search and writing tools created specifically to help students write better papers faster in January 2001. Questia provides unlimited access to the full-text of an extensive collection of books, as well as a wide range of features including a highlighter markup, margin note capabilities, and automatic footnoting and bibliographies. 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 with approximately 300 employees, and offices in New York and Los Angeles, Questia is delivering on the true promise of the Internet by providing access to a wealth of human knowledge. Visit www.questia.com for more information.

Contacts:
Ann Brimberry
Public Relations Manager
(713) 358-2704 / (713) 562-8817 cell
ABrimberry@questia.com

Media
Richards/Gravelle Public Relations
Stacie Barnett (214) 891-2910
stacie_barnett@richards.com

Publishers:
Linda Cunningham
Questia Media, Inc.
(212) 297-6127
lcunningham@questia.com