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Le Monde Now Available Through Dialog® NewsRoom

CARY, N.C., USA (May 12, 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 Le Monde, the leading French newspaper, is now available for electronic searching and article retrieval through Dialog® NewsRoom, the fast-growing online database of more than 7,500 news sources from around the world.

The new content stems from an agreement between Dialog and Le Monde Interactif, the new media subsidiary of Le Monde Group, publishers of the influential newspaper.

Dialog NewsRoom, available through the Dialog family of online services and also as a stand-alone Web-based service (www.dialognewsroom.com), offers one-stop searching of broadcast transcripts, newspapers, periodicals, newswires, trade and scholarly journals, and other sources, drawn from nearly 80 countries in English and 10 other languages.

"For many in business, government and other fields, Dialog NewsRoom is the ideal tool to track news and analysis from across Europe and around the world," said Viji Krishnan, Dialog vice president of content development. "Le Monde, truly one of the world's great newspapers, certainly strengthens our collection of European content, and we're delighted to add it to Dialog NewsRoom."

More than 100 other sources of French-language news and analysis also are available through Dialog NewsRoom. Examples of well-known French sources include: Agence France-Presse, La Tribune and Libération.

Dialog NewsRoom users can set up alerts to be notified automatically via e-mail when new articles or reports that meet their search criteria, including those from Le Monde and other French sources, are added to the database.

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About Le Monde
Le Monde, founded in 1944, offers in-depth and sophisticated reporting and commentary on a wide range of French, European and global topics. The newspaper has more than two million daily readers (source: EuroPQN 2001-2002) and is circulated in more than 120 countries.

Le Monde Interactif, founded in 1998, is 66 percent owned by Le Monde SA and 34 percent by the Lagardère group. Le Monde Interactif publishes online news and information at www.lemonde.fr. Continuously updated throughout the day, seven days a week, with three daily editions, LeMonde.fr is a complete online newspaper where Internet users can find "current news in real time."

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.

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