P R E S S     R E L E A S E

Dialog Adds XML Output, New Post-Processing Tools & Electronic Linking to DialogLink^®

"Next Generation In Professional Search Tools" Bolsters Work-Flow Integration With New Ease of Creating Reports & Linking to STM Content

NASHVILLE, Tenn., USA (June 7, 2004) — Dialog, a Thomson (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC) business and a leading worldwide provider of online-based information services and integrated information solutions, said today that it is now offering DialogLink® 4.0, an upgraded version of its popular software package for information professionals.

DialogLink 4.0 adds XML output, new post-processing tools and e-linking capabilities to create reports, distribute information across an enterprise and access electronically published scholarly articles.

The new features enable users to better integrate information retrieved from the Dialog service into real-life work situations, such as in management reports and corporate intranets and portals.

Dialog made the announcement at the annual conference of the Special Libraries Association, meeting here this week.

"With DialogLink 4.0, we are reaffirming our commitment to information professionals around the world," said Roy M. Martin, Jr., Dialog president and CEO. "DialogLink 4.0 represents the next generation in professional search tools. The new XML output, post-processing tools and e-linking capabilities, along with the other new benefits of DialogLink 4.0, will help information professionals do more for the organizations they serve. We're helping them take Dialog content and make it their own."

DialogLink 4.0 preserves the commands used in previous versions of DialogLink, but enhances them with greater functionality, such as pop-up windows, which streamlines the searching process.

Another prime benefit of DialogLink 4.0 is that all content searched and retrieved on the Dialog service is now available in XML format. That gives DialogLink 4.0 users the ability to repurpose documents in any number of ways, as XML is an easy-to-manipulate text format compatible with information systems and other software packages. That means, for example, that documents retrieved from Dialog can be easily incorporated into a company's current awareness bulletin or intranet, or integrated with internal content.

New post-processing tools (that is, tools to manipulate retrieved information offline) allow users to use create highly polished reports. Text and data found in retrieved documents culled from any Dialog database collection can be exported into commonly used business applications, such as Microsoft® Word and Excel.

With the addition of the XML output capability and post-processing tools, users now have the ability to integrate relevant documents drawn from different content sets into a single management report.

For example, a pharmaceutical researcher searching drug pipeline files on Dialog can create a report in Microsoft® Excel on drugs in a particular therapeutic area based on any number of variables, such as their status through the regulatory approval process. The report then can be sent to new product development managers.

Another example is a competitive intelligence specialist who might search multiple Dialog databases, such as ABI/INFORM® and PROMT®, to retrieve information on competitors. Those articles could then be integrated into a report in Microsoft® Word for distribution to senior management. Users also have the option to automatically create a table of contents in Word, with hyperlinks to specific documents.

In each of the examples above and in many other cases, Dialog gives its customers the ability to purchase the rights to redistribute documents via its Electronic Redistribution and Archiving service (support.dialog.com/searchaids/era/).

In an additional significant new benefit, DialogLink 4.0 offers the ability to link to materials outside of the Dialog online system. The recently released Dialog eLinks service is incorporated into DialogLink 4.0, allowing users to link seamlessly to documents found on Web-based services, including such content as Investext® reports and scholarly journal articles and other documents in PDF format. More than 11,200 journals, conference proceedings and other research sources are available for e-linking using DialogLink 4.0.

DialogLink 4.0 users also now can incorporate custom enterprise links using Open URL standards to integrate with commonly used link resolver applications, such as SFX® by Ex Libris.

Other improvements now available through DialogLink 4.0 include:

• New, easier-to-use usage reporting and tracking tools
  
  
• Enhanced options for managing Dialog Alerts® and Saved Searches
  
  
• Improvements to setting up and maintaining user preferences
  
  
• New certified secure connections using Secure Socket Layer (SSL) technology to protect privacy for online research.

The DialogLink 4.0 software package is provided by Dialog as part of a customer's annual service agreement at no additional charge.

DialogLink 4.0 is designed for use with Microsoft Windows. It may be downloaded at support.dialog.com/downloads/dialoglink/.

-End-

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™, Dialog NewsEdge® and Dialog Intelliscope^SM 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 (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC). With 2003 revenues of US$7.6 billion, Thomson (www.thomson.com) is a global leader in providing integrated information solutions to business and professional customers.

-30-

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