P R E S S     R E L E A S E

Major enhancements to DataStar bring significant cost-savings, improved document delivery, in-depth information on journals and new drug illustrations to users

London, England and Cary, N.C., 4th April, 2000: The Information Services Division of The Dialog Corporation (LSE: DLG, NASDAQ: DIAL) today announced the introduction of three major enhancements to the DataStar business intelligence service:

• e-Journal Links provide direct access from DataStarWeb to full-text articles on publishers' own Web sites
• JOUR database lookup provides in-depth information on journals available on DataStar
• Inclusion of images illustrate drug structures within online articles, aiding the scientific researcher

e-Journal Links mean that DataStar Web users can now view articles from over 5000 selected journals in full-text format — online — from an ever-increasing range of major publishers and aggregators. Traditionally, only an abstract record of each article from bibliographic databases could be viewed online. Now e-Journal Links speed up the document delivery process by providing immediate access to full-text articles.

"Users in the pharmaceutical, science and technology sectors will experience huge benefits from this service," explains Ciaran Morton, President EMEAAP, The Dialog Corporation. "With e-Journal Links they can combine the power of searching abstracts through DataStar with direct access to their preferred journals — and with no document delivery costs. We've responded to the requirements of many of our users to include this capability, and initial feedback from them is very positive."

The Dialog Corporation has also announced a further enhancement to the DataStar service with the launch of JOUR database lookup. JOUR can be used to identify which DataStar database contains a particular journal, the type of coverage given (full-text or abstract) and when coverage of that journal began in the database. JOUR also provides journal details such as publication status and country of publication to facilitate identification. Morton explained; "JOUR provides instant answers to questions about key journals such as: "which database has the most comprehensive coverage of the Journal of Viral Hepatitis" or "how far back does Medline's coverage of the journal Child Development go?"

Also new to DataStar will be the introduction of images on the Prous Science Drugs of the Future (PRFU) database. This file allows the researcher to trace drugs from the first phases of development through marketing and to obtain comprehensive product information. It will be enhanced with images of the chemical structure and corresponding scheme(s) of synthesis. DataStar Web users can view and download the images within the articles online, providing the critical structural view not made clear by the formula alone.

"These announcements show our continuing commitment to providing DataStar customers with increased value and capabilities from one of the world's leading online information services," concluded Morton.

Electronic journal linking is already available from Dialog@Site, the division of The Dialog Corporation specialising in CDROM-based information solutions. Known as eDOCS GOLD, these links have already generated considerable interest since their launch in December 1999.

Users of DataStar Web can take advantage of the following DataStar databases that already include links to e-Journals: MEDLINE, EMBASE, INSPEC, Ei Compendex, BIOSIS Previews, Current Contents Search — Bibliographic Records, Derwent Drug File, SciSearch®: a Cited Reference Science Database.

Publishers and aggregators already linked up to the service include SWETSNET, ROWECOM INFORMATION QUEST, AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS, CATCHWORD, HIGHWIRE, ACADEMIC PRESS IDEAL, SIAM, KARGER, SPRINGER with many more in the pipeline.

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About Dialog
Dialog is the worldwide leader in providing online-based information services to organizations seeking competitive advantages in such fields as business, science, engineering, finance and law. Its products and services, such as Dialog®, Profound® and DataStar™, offer organizations the ability to precisely retrieve data from more than 800 million unique records, accessible via the Internet or through delivery to enterprise Intranets. For almost three decades, Dialog's brands have been known for their breadth and depth of content, precision searching and speed. The Winter Corporation recently recognized Dialog for its breadth and depth of content when they named the company the Grand Prize-winner in the Database Scalability Program 2000.

Headquartered in Cary, N.C., USA, with direct operations in 30 countries, Dialog products are used by more than 20,000 corporate customers in over 100 countries. Dialog is a subsidiary of The Thomson Corporation, a leading global e-information and solutions company in the business and professional marketplace with 2000 revenues of approximately $6 billion. The Corporation's common shares are listed on the Toronto (TSE:TOC) and London stock exchanges.

For more information about Dialog, call 1-800-3-DIALOG or visit www.dialog.com. For more information about Thomson, visit www.thomson.com.

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All designated trademarks used herein are the property of The Dialog Corporation or its subsidiaries. Registered marks are registered by The Dialog Corporation or its subsidiaries, U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. All other marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

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