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U.S. Government's World News Connection® Database to Be Hosted, Maintained by Dialog

CARY N.C., USA (March 10, 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 will take over hosting and maintaining World News Connection (WNC), the U.S. Government's daily online global news monitoring service.

WNC is published by the National Technical Information Service (NTIS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce. It is a Web-accessible service that offers an extensive array of translated and English-language news and information compiled daily by the U.S. government's Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS).

FBIS bureaus around the world monitor news sources in their regions, covering virtually all countries worldwide except the United States. Editorial content includes articles and reports originating in countries that are not normally included in publicly available news digests, such as Iraq, Iran and North Korea.

WNC is currently offered directly by the NTIS. The service offers the full text and summaries of newspaper articles, conference proceedings, television and radio broadcasts, periodicals and non-classified technical reports. Content is added to the online service every government business day, and generally is available for electronic searching and retrieval within 24-72 hours of original publication or broadcast.

"We are delighted to partner with NTIS and to host and maintain this vital information resource," said Cliff Pollan, Dialog executive vice president, strategy and alliances. "The World News Connection plays a unique role for its users. We intend to add value to the service through improved functionality while maintaining its global comprehensiveness and timeliness."

Pollan added that Dialog and NTIS will make a more detailed announcement later in the year when WNC is re-launched by Dialog. He said that Dialog expects to incorporate the WNC into its family of online services, and also to offer it as a separate, stand-alone service.

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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 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.

About The Thomson Corporation
The Thomson Corporation (www.thomson.com), with 2002 revenues of US$7.8 billion, is a global leader in providing integrated information solutions to business and professional customers. Thomson provides value-added information, software tools and applications 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 Toronto and New York stock exchanges (TSX: TOC; NYSE: TOC).

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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