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South African Wins 2004 Roger K. Summit Scholarship From Dialog

LONDON (30 November 2004) — Dialog, a Thomson (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC) business and a leading worldwide provider of online-based information services and integrated information solutions, today said that Retha Claasen-Veldsman, a graduate student at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, is the winner of this year's Roger K. Summit Scholarship award for the Europe, Middle East and Africa region.

Dialog made the announcement at the Online Information 2004 conference meeting here this week.

Named in honour of Dialog founder and Chairman Emeritus Roger K. Summit, a pioneer in developing the technology behind online information retrieval, the scholarship is awarded in different regions of the world to graduate students enrolled in library or information science programmes.

"We are delighted to award the region's 2004 scholarship to Retha," said Libby Trudell, Dialog senior vice president of information professional development.  "She is an outstanding student doing important research, and she has had a remarkable career in her previous educational pursuits.  She also has shown a real flair for using online information services in her work and in sharing her knowledge with others."

Claasen-Veldsman currently is working toward a Master of Arts degree in Development Communication at the University of Pretoria's Department of Information Science, writing her dissertation on the use of audio technology to foster understanding of HIV/AIDS among disadvantaged communities.  She also currently serves as a junior lecturer at the Department of Information Science.

She was awarded a Bachelor of Arts, Information Science Honours (Cum Laude), from the University of Pretoria in 2001. Claasen-Veldsman has contributed to scholarly research, including participating in research published by the Africa Institute for Leadership, Research & Development.  She also has won a number of awards for outstanding academic work, including "best student" designations from her university.

Noted one of her professors from the University of Pretoria: "Throughout her undergraduate and post-graduate academic career at the department, she has shown outstanding and consistent dedication, academic ability and enthusiasm."

Outside of her academic work, Claasen-Veldsman is a sports enthusiast, active in cycling, modern dancing and running.

South African Online Information Services, agents for Dialog in Southern Africa, is underwriting Claasen-Veldsman's travel expenses to London so she can accept her award in person.

Editor's Note:  a photo is available.  Please inquire.

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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 organisations 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 organisations 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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