ProQuest has acquired BNI, a cornerstone database for nursing and midwifery in the U.K. BNI — shortened from British Nursing Index — has been compiled through a partnership of the libraries at Bournemouth University, Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, the Royal College of Nursing and Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust. ProQuest has built a long-term relationship with BNI through its distribution via Dialog, its business unit serving the professional market. Now, as the founding organizers seek to ensure the long-term health of the index, acquisition by ProQuest will ensure it continues to flourish.
“BNI provides a unique access point to information and is widely valued by health professionals,” said Marty Kahn, ProQuest CEO. “Not only will BNI continue, it will also be nurtured. We intend to retain its core identity and customer base, while expanding its appeal.”
“The sale to ProQuest represents the start of an exciting new chapter for BNI. We’re confident ProQuest can take this pivotal information resource to the next level,” said the BNI founding organizations in a joint statement.
Indexing more than 240 English-language titles — including essential international nursing and midwifery journals and selective content from medical, allied health and management titles — BNI is renowned for reliability and precision. Its editorial process relies upon indexing by librarians with experience in providing information services to nurses and midwives. The database is updated monthly, making it one of the most current bibliographic resources of its kind. ProQuest plans to invest in BNI, making it a full-text resource that expands well beyond the U.K. market. Content will continue to be accessed through the new ProQuest Dialog™ service and will ultimately be available on the all-new unified ProQuest platform, where it will be cross-searchable with all ProQuest content.
ProQuest is growing organically through a variety of groundbreaking technology and content initiatives and is also expanding through acquisitions. Earlier in 2011, ProQuest acquired ebrary, an innovative provider of e-books to libraries. In late 2010, the company acquired University Publications of American and Congressional Information Service, fueling growth for ProQuest in government information markets.
