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Dialog^® NewsRoom Sources Top 10,000

2,000 New Sources Added

CARY, N.C., USA (November 23, 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 has added 2,000 additional sources of in-depth global news to its acclaimed Dialog® NewsRoom database.

Dialog NewsRoom is composed of aggregated news and business information content, continuously updated from around the world. With the addition of the new sources, users can now search and retrieve materials drawn from a total of 10,000 sources based in 129 countries. 

Dialog NewsRoom sources, available in 13 languages, include newspapers, newswires, transcripts of broadcast reports, specialty newsletters, trade media and scholarly journals. Most of the sources are archived, with some stretching back 30 years.

Dialog is in alliance with leading information providers, including publishers and third-party aggregators, to gather content for Dialog NewsRoom.  The recently added sources are supplied by such well-known information providers as the Gale Group, Gannett Newspapers, FT Asia Intelligence Wire, Reed Business Information, McGraw-Hill and Knight Ridder Tribune, among others.

"When we launched Dialog NewsRoom in 2002, we set out to build the most comprehensive database of news and business information that would best meet the news research needs of a wide range of businesses, government agencies and other organizations," said Viji Krishnan,  Dialog vice president of publisher management.  "We are aggressively continuing to expand the depth and scope of editorial materials available through the service."

Of the 10,000 sources available through Dialog NewsRoom, about 2,300 are general news providers, such as newspapers and newswires. Most of the other sources represent industry-specific trade publications or subject-focused journals. 

"The availability of both general news providers, coupled with trade publications and journals, is important because it allows users to find both broadly based reporting and the in-depth news and analysis most appropriate for their industries or professions, all through a single database," Krishnan said.

Krishnan also noted that an additional advantage of Dialog NewsRoom is the underlying taxonomy, or indexing system, used in Dialog NewsRoom to optimize the content and generate more relevant search results.  Dialog earlier this year introduced its proprietary SmartTerms™ taxonomy that utilizes more than 855,000 terms — twice as many as Dialog’s nearest competitor — to index content.

In an extensive review of subscription-based online services that aggregate news content into single databases, British journalist Pam Foster noted that the Dialog taxonomy "appears to be fuller than that of Factiva and LexisNexis, particularly for Companies and Industries.  Additionally, Dialog NewsRoom provides related and secondary terms which are not displayed on either of the other services."  (Factiva and LexisNexis are competing services.)  (Source:  Issue 11, October 2004, VIP.  Published by FreePint, U.K.  Information: www.vivavip.com)

"The taxonomy used to index content in an online database is key to its value for users because it means that searches produce highly relevant and accurate results, which in turn enables the required information to be found and put to work quickly," said Krishnan.  "We’re delighted that SmartTerms has been recognized for its quality and sophistication."

Krishnan said that Dialog will continue to add new sources to the Dialog NewsRoom database.

Dialog NewsRoom is available as a stand-alone service (www.dialognewsroom.com).  It also is available as a component in other Dialog information and research services, including Dialog NewsEdge®.  It is one of a series of news and current awareness services offered by Dialog.

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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™, 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 26 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.

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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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