Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee Consortium Increases Access to ISI Web of Science Content.

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PHILADELPHIA & LONDON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 22, 2003

Today, Thomson ISI announced that the Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee (AVCC) consortium increased the depth of access to ISI Web of Science(R) content.

The agreement provides the 28 member Australian universities with an additional five years of backfiles that make up this research information solution. ISI Web of Science is a key component of ISI Web of Knowledge(SM)--the single environment from which users can access, analyze, and manage research information.

Funding was secured through the Systematic Infrastructure Initiative, which sought out projects to be funded through the Department of Education, Science & Training (DEST). This investment is the first of 12 projects under a Commonwealth initiative designed to strengthen the information resources available at higher education institutions in Australia.

"Last year, the AVCC negotiated with ISI to offer member institutions access to the ISI Web of Science resource," said John Shipp, University Librarian of the University of Sydney. "This provided such a significant benefit to scholars that Web of Science was identified as a key national research resource to be supported from the Systemic Infrastructure Initiatives fund administered by DEST. The funding of additional backfiles for participating universities recognizes the need for Australian researchers to have access to high quality information resources so as to enhance their contribution to the economic, social and cultural well-being of the broader community."

"AVCC's members purchase of ISI Web of Science last year was a clear demonstration of our commitment to the advancement of higher education and research in Australia," said John Mullarvey, CEO of the AVCC. "The government's investment in additional backfile data reflects our continued efforts to enable our universities to provide researchers with the necessary tools to carry out world-class research."

"The additional investment in ISI Web of Science demonstrates the government's resolve to further extend the expert research being conducted at institutions in Australia by increasing the quality, breadth and depth of the research literature available to their academic researchers," said Adam Klein, Vice President and General Manager, Asia-Pacific, Thomson Scientific.

About ISI Web of Science

Part of ISI Web of Knowledge, ISI Web of Science indexes approximately 8,500 of the world's most influential scholarly journals, providing users with complete bibliographic data, searchable author abstracts, and cited references from content back to 1945.

The unique Web of Science(R) feature--cited reference searching--allows users to navigate forward, backward, and through the multidisciplinary literature to uncover all the information relevant to their work. Cited reference searching also allows researchers to learn who is citing their work, and the impact they, or their colleagues, are having on the global research community.

About the Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee

The Australian Vice-Chancellors' Committee advances higher education through voluntary, cooperative and coordinated action. The Committee is non-partisan and exists exclusively for educational purposes. Its continuing aim is to serve the best interests of the universities and, through them, the nation.

The role of the AVCC has developed considerably over the years reflecting the changing nature and environment at universities. The AVCC acts as a consultative and advisory body for all university affairs.

About Thomson ISI

ISI(R) is a business of The Thomson Corporation. Headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA with offices worldwide, ISI provides essential, high quality Web-based information to over seven million researchers, information specialists, and administrators in diverse fields. For more information about ISI, visit www.isinet.com.

The Thomson Corporation, with 2002 revenues of $7.8 billion, is a global leader in providing integrated information solutions to business and professional customers.

Thomson provides value-added information, software applications and tools 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). For more information about The Thomson Corporation, visit www.thomson.com.