The Graduate School, USDA Selects Thomson to Provide Learning Materials to 150,000 Federal and Private Sector Employees

Business Wire, March 24, 2003

Business Editors

CINCINNATI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 24, 2003

Partnership will enhance course content and materials for key

training program initiatives

Thomson Custom Publishing, a leading provider of personalized learning materials and part of The Thomson Corporation (TSX: TOC; NYSE: TOC), today announced an agreement to provide customized publishing and content resources to the Graduate School, USDA.

The Graduate School, USDA is one of the primary training providers for the United States federal government, serving more than 150,000 students per year.

Although a majority of the Graduate School's students are government employees, classes are open to all adults over the age of 18, regardless of their place of employment. The Graduate School, USDA offers nearly 1,000 different courses and draws from more than 1,200 instructors in government, business and academia. Instructors teach standard undergraduate and graduate-level courses; however, the Graduate School, USDA does not grant degrees. Instead, the School focuses on continuing education by updating job skills needed to keep up with changes in technology, legislation and business practices.

Courses are offered in the following areas: auditing and accounting, communications and personal enrichment, human resources management, acquisition and management analysis, information technology, and leadership and development. The School offers courses regularly in close to 100 cities across the United States.

The mission of the Graduate School, USDA is to improve the performance of the government and to provide opportunities for individual lifelong learning. By combining Thomson's wide array of content resources with Custom Publishing's individualized learning solutions and publishing expertise, the Graduate School, USDA will be better able to identify, access and develop the most comprehensive and relevant course content specific to the needs of both government and private sector clients.

"In today's business environment, people are faced with increasingly difficult on-the-job challenges," said Ronald MacNab, director of the Graduate School's Curriculum Product and Development Center. "As a continuing education institution, we need to respond with timely, relevant information that provides people with the tools they need to achieve success. Thomson Custom Publishing has the vision, resources and publishing expertise to provide us with a solution that offers students an effective learning experience."

The first phase of Thomson's partnership with the Graduate School, USDA will involve a complete review of the printed training materials currently being used in its training programs. Thomson will review and update the existing content, integrating additional material when appropriate. Thomson will also tag and code all of the existing material to build an online library and content database for future expansion and development of training initiatives.

"The broad spectrum of cutting-edge Thomson content, technology and publishing services combined with the Graduate School, USDA - an organization that possesses training know-how, skills and scope - ensures that students and trainees get the most up-to-date material delivered in the most flexible format for their needs," said Andy Gates, general manager for Thomson Custom Publishing. "We have developed a full range of innovative, accessible, and flexible tools from which instructors in any industry - academic, corporate, government, or association - can choose to design the perfect customized course curriculum and learning materials."

About The Thomson Corporation & Custom Publishing

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 tools and applications 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). Its learning businesses and brands serve the needs of individuals, learning institutions, corporations and government agencies with products and services for both traditional and distributed learning. Thomson Custom Publishing (www.thomsoncustom.com) is a leader in the custom publishing industry, producing personalized educational materials. Custom Publishing serves institutions and instructors in higher education as well as corporate, government, proprietary, and international markets.