Personal Library Software

On January 21, America Online Inc. announced that it acquired Personal Library Software (PLS), well-known to us in the information industry as a leading developer of information indexing and search technologies. PLS, based in Rockville, Maryland, was a privately held company, with Knight Ridder, Inc. and America Online each holding significant minority investments. America Online, founded in 1985 and based in Dulles, Virginia, is the world's leading Internet online service, with over 11 million members worldwide.
PLS had developed the core technology for search within the AOL service. Search is used throughout the AOL service, including in such popular features as the Member Directory, AOL Find and Channel Search. PLS products are well known for their power, speed, automatic concept searching, ease-of-use, dynamic updating, and scalability.
PLS technology is at the core of online and CD-ROM products and services provided by leading information companies, including AT&T, Dow Jones, The Washington Post Company, USA Today, Bertelsmann AG, and Knight-Ridder, as well as AOL.