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DataStar™ Users Offered Private File Building Through New PrivateStar Facility
Dialog Brings Changes to Keep Leading Scientific Database Service at Forefront of the Market

Cary, N.C., USA, May 29, 2001 — Dialog, a leading provider of online-based information services and a subsidiary of The Thomson Corporation (TSE:TOC), today unveiled PrivateStar, a significant new capability to DataStar, the company's online service renowned for its powerful search and retrieval technology.

PrivateStar gives information professionals the option to automatically load and store data, including their own research, in private files accessed through the DataStar online databases. All data stored in Private Files (PRIVs) can then be searched in the same way as any other DataStar database, using any interface, with full functionality.

DataStar already has an established role at the heart of many organizations' information strategies and is widely used in the pharmaceutical industry. The new feature announced today will offer users greater personalization and flexibility in accessing, storing, and filing information from DataStar than ever before.

"DataStar has always offered a potent means of pinpointing relevant information, and PrivateStar represents greater flexibility for information professionals to store that information in a way that makes sense for them," said Thomas Bauer, DataStar product line director at Dialog. "PrivateStar is a tangible, practical improvement that will be welcomed by DataStar users."

Paul Colucci, senior vice president of product development for Dialog, added, "Our customers value speedy access to the information that can make a critical difference to their business. The improvements to DataStar announced today demonstrate Dialog is committed to continually identifying and implementing changes that keep our products, and our customers, ahead of the field."

Using PrivateStar, search results now can be automatically combined and stored with customer research material and data sourced from elsewhere, using Alerts and other DataStar delivery mechanisms to load information into users' Private Files. Individual documents saved in the Distribution Database also can be flagged for inclusion. Dialog has mapped over 300 of DataStar's databases into a single, flexible format to facilitate loading from multiple databases into PRIVs.

The user also can ascribe individual comments or key words to Private Files to make searching more streamlined. In this way, information professionals are able to filter searches on behalf of end-users in their organization.

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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 six billion pages of key information, 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 offices around the world, Dialog products are used by more than 100,000 professional researchers 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 Thomson Corporation's common shares are listed on the Toronto 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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