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Dialog Expands E-Journal Linking Capability

More Publishers Now Offering Seamless Linking Through Dialog Services

CARY, NC, USA (July 14, 2003) — Dialog, a Thomson (TSX: TOC; NYSE: TOC) business and a leading worldwide provider of online-based information services and integrated information solutions, today said that it has dramatically expanded the number of e-journals that can be linked to seamlessly from Dialog-retrieved abstracts and citations.

The company said that an additional 77 publishers of highly valued science, technical and medical (STM) information from around the world in recent months have begun working with Dialog to offer new e-Journal Links.

"Embedded links have become one of the most popular features available through Dialog services," said Cynthia Murphy, senior vice president, strategic marketing. "The immediacy of accessing the full text of STM articles is a significant boost to productivity in what is often a time-sensitive research environment. STM professionals need to see the complete article quickly, and our expanded roster of e-Journal Links expands fast access to more journals."

Dialog now offers immediate online linking from abstracts and citations to the full text of the referenced articles in journals published by more than 115 publishers or information aggregators contracted with publishers. The total number of e-journals available for linking through the Dialog services is now more than 11,000, most of which are peer-reviewed STM publications serving specialized audiences. EBSCOhost® Electronic Journals Service, John Wiley & Sons, Science Direct, SwetsWise and Information Quest are among the leading publishers and aggregators whose publications are available for linking. (For a complete list of aggregators and publishers, please visit http://www.dialog.com/products/ejournal/aggregators.shtml)

When a Dialog subscriber views a citation or abstract of an article for which linking is available, the Dialog system recognizes that the user's organization has a subscription to the displayed e-journal or an agreement with an aggregator representing the publisher. If one of those relationships exists, the user is then presented with a link in the search output. By clicking on the link, the user is taken directly to the publisher or aggregator's online site where the full text of that specific article is displayed.

Information professionals, on behalf of their organizations, have complete control over subscription setup and management through an administrative tool called Dialog Subscription Manager.

There is no additional charge for the linking feature.

Medical researchers, biochemists, engineers, healthcare reimbursement managers, clinical researchers, environmental scientists, patent attorneys and senior business management are among the Dialog users who often use e-Journal Links.

Before Dialog began enabling links to electronic journals last year, users would retrieve a citation or abstract of the article they sought, and then would have to take another step to access an e-journal site to retrieve the desired document in fulltext form. The e-Journal Linking capability offered by Dialog eliminates the need for that additional step.

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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, the online services provided by Dialog — 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 31 other countries. 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.

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