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Thomson Introduces Library Gateway to Thousands of News Sources

ReferenceLink, From Gale and Dialog, Lets Library Patrons, Students Search Thousands of Information Sources Simultaneously

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich., and CARY, N.C., USA — September 20, 2002 — The Thomson Corporation (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC), through Gale®, its leading research and reference publisher for libraries, and Dialog, its leading worldwide provider of online-based information services and integrated information solutions, today introduced ReferenceLink, an online information gateway designed for public and educational libraries.

The new product enables library patrons and students to search thousands of news sources and databases simultaneously through a single, friendly interface without having to jump between individual Web sites or access multiple online information services. The product is the first to be introduced in a line of planned online products and services serving academic and public libraries worldwide.

"ReferenceLink is a great example of how Thomson integrates its business and products to respond to specific customer needs," said Gale President Allen Paschal. "This collaboration between two businesses with exceptional content and skills in creating precision search engines, brings to market a product that libraries have told us they need. It is a deep, smart product that will make libraries more valuable in serving their communities' information needs."

"The Web is full of news and current awareness services, but the process of searching for and then managing the needed information can be daunting," said Roy M. Martin, Jr., Dialog president and CEO. "ReferenceLink from Dialog and Gale will greatly simplify how library patrons and students undertake research of news sources."

ReferenceLink is a multidisciplinary database containing medical, reference, health, science, technical and regulatory sources, including The New England Journal of Medicine, Consumer Reports, Medline, GeoRef and thousands of other widely used sources.  News coverage is rich, containing nearly 50 databases with more than 1,500 newspaper and journal titles pulled from the acclaimed Dialog® NewsRoom online service, including The Boston Globe, USA Today and Global Reporter.

Libraries may subscribe to only the newspaper database, which provides access to the news content, or in combination with ReferenceLink to get the broader full content set.

Content in ReferenceLink was chosen to complement Gale's well-known InfoTrac periodical databases, extending the content available to InfoTrac users.  For example, the Canadian, Asia Pacific and Latin American content available through ReferenceLink greatly broadens the geographic reach of InfoTrac.  Because the interface emulates InfoTrac's, little additional training is needed.

"Reference Link's interface was designed to help even novice searchers find relevant, high quality information," said Paul Colucci, Dialog senior vice president of product development.  "Together with Gale we will deliver the information we collect to a broader universe of users through libraries, schools and universities around the world."

ReferenceLink is replacement service for former customers of Dialog@CARL, an electronic resource that was popular in the late 1990s.  Gale and Dialog note that ReferenceLink provides a transition path for customers who used Dialog@CARL, bringing them a greatly improved product. ReferenceLink is available immediately as an annual subscription.  For more information contact Gale at 1-800-877-GALE (4253) or visit the Gale Web site at www.gale.com.

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About The Thomson Corporation
Gale and Dialog are leading, global businesses within The Thomson Corporation (www.thomson.com). With 2001 revenues of US$7.2 billion, Thomson is a global leader in providing integrated information solutions to business and professional customers. Thomson provides value-added information, software applications and tools to more than 20 million users in the fields of law, tax, accounting, financial services, higher education, reference information, corporate training and assessment, scientific research and healthcare. The Corporation's common shares are listed on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC).

About Gale
Gale® (www.gale.com) is a world leader in e-reference publishing for libraries, schools and businesses.  Best known for its accurate and authoritative content as well as its intelligent organization of fulltext magazine and newspaper articles, the company creates and maintains more than 600 databases that are published in electronic form, as well as in print and microform.

The Gale family of publishing imprints includes such noted reference brands as Macmillan Reference USA™, Charles Scribner's Sons™, Primary Source Microfilm™ and Responsive Database Services.  Gale also serves the K-12 market with its U·X·L®, Greenhaven Press®, Lucent Books®, KidHaven Press™, Blackbirch Press® and Sleeping Bear Press imprints.  Thorndike Press® and Wheeler Publishing™ serve libraries' large print collections, while the Taft Group® specializes in reference materials for the nonprofit sector.  Gale operating companies include distinguished German reference publisher K.G. Saur™ and the U.K.-based Graham & Whiteside™.

In addition to serving the school and library communities, Gale also licenses its proprietary content for integration within Web-based information services. Nearly 100 organizations - including Looksmart, Borders, Dow Jones, WebMD and Thomson Financial - presently enjoy strategic business distribution partnerships with Gale.

Gale is based in Farmington Hills, Michigan, with additional offices elsewhere in the U.S. and in the U.K., Australia, Germany, Switzerland and Malaysia.

About Dialog
Dialog, a pioneer in developing the technology behind electronic information retrieval, is the world leader in providing online-based information services to organizations seeking competitive advantages in such fields as business, science, engineering, finance and law.

Today, Dialog's online services — offered through the Dialog®, Dialog Profound®, Dialog DataStar™, NewsEdge and Intelligence Data brands — give users the ability to precisely retrieve data from more than 1.4 billion unique records, accessible via the Internet or through delivery to enterprise intranets. Searchable content includes articles and reports from thousands of real-time news feeds, newspapers, broadcast transcripts and trade publications, plus research reports and analyst notes providing support for financial decision-making, as well as in-depth repositories of scientific and technical data, patents, trademarks and other intellectual property data.

Corporate librarians, knowledge managers, other information professionals and end-users at more than 25,000 business, professional and government organizations in more than 100 countries prize Dialog services for their depth and breadth of content, precision searching and speed.

Based in Cary, N.C., USA, Dialog has operations in 31 other countries worldwide. For more information about Dialog, please visit www.dialog.com. Or, please call (U.S./Canada) 800-3-DIALOG or (U.S.) 919-462-8600. Dialog's London office may be reached at (44) (0) 207-940-6900.

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 with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. All other marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

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