Thomson Scientific, a leading provider of information and technology solutions to the worldwide scientific community, today announced that Victoria University of Wellington has become the fifth university in New Zealand to purchase the entire Web of Science(R) data collection.

Prior to 2005, Web of Science - the multidisciplinary bibliographic database, accessed via the ISI Web of Knowledge(SM) premier research platform - already offered an extensive collection of backfiles to 1945. Introduced in early 2005, the Century of Science(TM) initiative added navigation to backfiles and cited reference data from carefully-selected published research from the first half of the 20th century (1944 to 1900). Now with content back to 1900, Web of Science is the most comprehensive current and retrospective, multidisciplinary information solution available. Web of Science also provides the unique search method - cited reference searching. With it, users can navigate forward, backward, and through the literature to uncover all the information relevant to their research. Users can also navigate to electronic full-text journal articles.

Victoria University of Wellington was able to purchase the Century of Science when the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Pat Walsh, approved additional capital funds for the library in mid-2006.

"The Century of Science is a significant online resource for our researchers and reinforces the University's commitment to build the library's capability to support high-quality research," said Melanie Mills, electronic collections librarian.

"The deep backfiles, back to 1900, contain material previously unavailable from our current indexes, and combined with our growing collection of full- text journal e-resources and out print collections, the Century of Science offers a powerful tool for research," added Margaret Ferguson, head of collection services. "This historical material has applications not only for science researchers but for humanities, historical and multi-disciplinary studies as well, with the potential to contribute significantly to our various research strands," concluded Ferguson.

"Over the last year, we have seen a new trend emerging as five of the eight key universities in New Zealand have made the decision to extend their Web of Science holding back to 1900," said Jeroen Prinsen, director of Australia/New Zealand sales for Thomson Scientific. "Victoria University of Wellington is one them. Their investment demonstrates their commitment to furthering the research conducted at the university, and brings them closer to realizing their vision of becoming a major player on the world research stage."

About The Thomson Corporation

The Thomson Corporation, with 2005 revenues of approximately $8.40 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 e-learning and assessment, scientific research and healthcare. With operational headquarters in Stamford, Conn., Thomson has approximately 40,500 employees and provides services in approximately 130 countries. The Corporation's common shares are listed on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC). Thomson Scientific is a business of The Thomson Corporation. Its information solutions assist professionals at every stage of research and development-from discovery to analysis to product development and distribution.