P R E S S     R E L E A S E

Dialog Targets Additional Small Business Specialty Markets

Company Adds Four Content Channels to Dialog^®PRO

CARY, N.C., USA (May 22, 2003) — Dialog, a Thomson (TSX: TOC; NYSE: TOC) business and a leading worldwide provider of online-based information services and integrated information solutions, said today that it is now offering additional content channels through its award-winning Dialog®PRO service for small businesses worldwide.

The new content channels are Energy, Engineering, Patent and Trademark.

Dialog packages the information it continually gathers from around the world to create the individual DialogPRO (Predictable Research Online) content channels as easy-to-use yet high-value strategic tools for small business owners and managers. Each content channel is designed to best match the unique information needs of individual DialogPRO subscribers. The highly focused approach ensures that small business owners and managers do not suffer from information overload, accessing only that information which can be a fast catalyst for their success.

"The market acceptance of DialogPRO has been tremendous," said Cynthia Murphy, Dialog senior vice president, strategic marketing. "Clearly, small business owners and managers around the world recognize that access to high-quality, relevant information can provide a competitive head start. We will keep adding content channel choices to reach further into the universe of small business owners and managers who can benefit from DialogPRO."

The new DialogPRO Energy channel is designed to offer energy industry professionals the information resources they need to generate product development ideas, identify new business opportunities and monitor industry trends and news. Content sources include trade publications, such as Coal Week, Global Power Report, Oil Daily and Platts Oilgram News, among others. Users can also access a vast collection of research compiled by the U.S. Department of Energy.

The new DialogPRO Engineering channel is geared toward professionals in the engineering, chemistry and life sciences fields. The service may be used to conduct comprehensive literature searches, monitor trends and news, research emerging technologies and track competitive developments.

Among a wide range of other information resources, the DialogPRO Engineering channel offers access to a comprehensive collection of research literature. Specific sources include the Ei Compendex® database, which features abstracted papers from the world's most important engineering and technological literature.

The new DialogPRO Patent channel gives professionals across a variety of industry and market segments the ability to access full-text patent documents in order to manage new product development, determine competitive positioning, ensure legal compliance, identify family connections between products and technologies, and track industry trends.

Content available through DialogPRO Patent includes the Derwent World Patent Index®, which features data drawn from about 23 million patent documents detailing some 11 million inventions; the INPADOC database, containing a listing of patents and associated information issued in 66 countries; and the U.S. Patents Fulltext database, a complete record of all patents issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office since 1976.

The fourth new content channel announced today, DialogPRO Trademark, offers information that intellectual property professionals need to research global trademarks, common law collections, and to investigate Internet domain names around the world.

Specific sources available through DialogPRO Trademark channel include the Global TRADEMARKSCAN® database collection, and the Domain Names database, a recently launched Dialog service that features more than 95 million records related to current and past Internet domain names.

In addition to four new content channels now available, other content channel options previously launched include: Advertising, Biotech, Competitive Intelligence, Consulting, Defense and News.

The DialogPRO Competitive Intelligence channel last March was awarded the e-Content Award for "best business information service" by the Toronto-based e-Content Institute.

In a product review published in Online Magazine (March-April 2003), columnist Mick O'Leary noted that the DialogPRO "... interface is effective. Menus and search screens permit very precise searches with no knowledge of searching or Dialog databases. Screens are clear, uncluttered, and equipped with good help windows. Because of the depth of the database(s) being searched, there is usually lots of on-point information."

For examples of information sources available through each of the DialogPRO content channels, please visit http://www.dialog.com/products/dialogpro/

- Ends -

About Dialog and The Thomson Corporation
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. Information professionals and end-users at 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 28 other countries worldwide. Dialog (www.dialog.com) is a business of The Thomson Corporation (TSX: TOC; NYSE: TOC). With 2002 revenues of US$7.8 billion, Thomson (www.thomson.com) is a global leader in providing integrated information solutions to business and professional customers.

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

Media contacts

top