Dialog Corporation - Contract Awarded

RNS No 5083j
DIALOG CORPORATION PLC
11th August 1998


                  DIALOG WINS SUBSTANTIAL FIVE YEAR CONTRACT
               FROM THE BBC TO PROVIDE A CUSTOMISED NEWS SERVICE
                        UTILISING 'INFOSORT' TECHNOLOGY
                                       
* The Dialog Corporation is awarded a substantial five-year contract by the BBC

* The Electronic News Cuttings (ENC) service will deliver current, up to date
  information to the desktops of BBC reporters, researchers, producers, and
  managers

* The ENC service will provide background information necessary for the
  development of news reports and programmes

* InfoSort will be applied to internal and external data - InfoSort terms
  will be tailored for the BBC, to enhance the existing categorisation and
  indexing system

* The service is scheduled for launch in Q4 1998

* The service will be used by staff across the BBC


London, 11th August 1998:  The Dialog Corporation plc ('Dialog') today
announced that it has been awarded a substantial five-year contract by the
British Broadcasting Corporation ('BBC').  Dialog is to provide and run an
Electronic News Cuttings (ENC) service, delivering essential information to
staff across the BBC.  The service utilises Dialog's proprietary indexing
technology, InfoSort, and will be available via the BBC's corporate
intranet in the fourth quarter of 1998.

The BBC is implementing ENC in order to support its needs for desktop access
for electronic news information.  ENC will be rolled out to the desktops of
BBC managers, producers, researchers and journalists, enabling them to have
instant access to the information they need via an easy-to-use, 'point and
click' interface.  The ENC service will be capable of handling thousands of
news information queries and will be supported by professional researchers
within the BBC's Information & Archives department.

ENC will integrate data generated within the BBC with full-text articles
from over 80 national and regional newspapers and magazines.  Each article
will be indexed to InfoSort standards, which will be mapped to existing
terms currently used by BBC personnel, thus tailoring InfoSort terms
specifically for BBC usage.

The application of InfoSort provides a standard for indexing data from a
multiplicity of sources, building upon and automating the BBC's current
indexing and archival systems, which have been developed over many years.
The result is a service built around terminology familiar to the user,
while enhanced by the application of InfoSort.

The Dialog Corporation's Chief Executive, Dan Wagner, commented:  "As the
market leader in the provision of online information, we are known for
delivering off-the-shelf information solutions.  Today's announcement
demonstrates that what sets The Dialog Corporation apart is our ability to
work closely with our clients to develop systems tailor-made to meet the
information needs of their entire enterprise - particularly where a large
number of users, with diverse requirements, must be supported.  We have the
data, the technology and in addition the consultative approach to business
necessary to win contracts of this kind.  It is testimony to this unique
offering that the BBC has chosen us, from stiff competition, to develop the
ENC, and we look forward to working with them closely in the future."

"We have worked at defining a service that will be tailored to meet the needs
of Information & Archives' customers," says Paul Fiander, Head of BBC
Information & Archives. "Information & Archives' priority is to focus on its
customers.  This new service will provide an opportunity to further that
objective whilst meeting the needs of the corporation for efficiency gains in
our processes."

Enquiries:

The Dialog Corporation plc    Tel: [phone]
                              Fax: [phone]
Sara Parker                   [e-mail]
Tracey Johnston               [e-mail]
Jackie Silvester              [e-mail]

John Olsen/James Longfield    ([phone]
The Hogarth Partnership       [e-mail]
for The Dialog Corporation    [e-mail]


British Broadcasting Corporation   Tel: [phone]
Anne Evens                         [e-mail]
Karen Parkin                       [e-mail]

Notes to Editors
The Dialog Corporation plc
www.dialog.com

The  Dialog  Corporation  is  a  leading provider  of  professional  online
information   following  the  merger  of  M.A.I.D  plc   and   Knight-Ridder
Information  Inc.   The  Dialog  Corporation  brands  include  the  DIALOG,
DataStar and Profound range of products and services.  These brands provide
comprehensive,  authoritative  sources  of  information  to   professionals
worldwide.  The Dialog Corporation has world headquarters in London and  is
traded on the NASDAQ (DIALY) and the London Stock Exchange (DLG).

InfoSortT
InfoSort is The Dialog Corporation's proprietary indexing system. The database
creation process uses specialised software and rule bases to ensure the
classification of each document meets the standards of the InfoSort thesauri.
This permits a seamless search across a wide range of information sources.

British Broadcasting Corporation
The BBC is the UK's national public service broadcaster, a public corporation,
set up by Royal Charter to provide broadcasting services at home and abroad.
The BBC's core home services are funded by the television licence fee which
pays for national television networks BBC-1 and BBC-2; national radio stations
- Radios 1,2,3,4 and 5 Live; national radio services in Northern Ireland,
Scotland and Wales - including services in Welsh and Gaelic languages; and 39
English local radio services. The BBC World Service - the international radio
service funded by Government Grant-In-Aid - broadcasts to around 140 million
regular listeners a week in 44 languages, including English. The BBC generates
further revenue to support its home services by exploiting its assets at home
and abroad through its commercial arm - BBC Worldwide.


END

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