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  Title   : List of low cost databases and online sources
  Keywords: LOW COST DATABASES CHEAP BBS SAVE MONEY RESEARCH CAJ

  List of cheap on-line sources prepared for a meeting of Florida
  news librarians and researchers, directed toward those who very rarely or
  never deal with electronic sources.

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TEN FOR $10
   
ST. PETERSBURG TIMES RESEARCHERS' TOP TEN
BLUE-LIGHT, BARGAIN-BASEMENT, UNDER-$10-PER SEARCH, ON-LINE SOURCES
 
 
1.  Florida driver's license/motor vehicle records
Why:  To get name, driver's license number, etc. of owner of car, etc., when
you know the tag number; with driver's license number it's then possible to
get owner's date of birth, address, race, height and sometimes the Social
Security number.
Cost per search: $2.75 ($55 per hour)
Accompanying microfiche records are not necessary, but very valuable
(driver's license fiche, about $230 annually; motor vehicle fiche, about $185
quarterly.)  They make it possible to begin with just a person's name to get
all of the above information.
Vendor:  Dept. of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles through CompuServe
Contact: Subscribe to CompuServe, (800) 848-8199, then contact Dept. of
Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, (904) 488-2454
 
 
2.  Florida corporate records
Why:  To find corporations, connect names with corporations, check fictitious
names of companies, find debtors and secured parties in Uniform Commercial
Code filings, and fictitious names/real names of corporations.
Cost per search: $1.20 ($24 per hour)
Vendor:  Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations through
CompuServe
Contact: Subscribe to CompuServe, then contact Florida State Data Center,
(904) 487-6866
 
 
3.  National Library of Medicine using Grateful Med software
Why:  To get citations and, in most cases, abstracts to over 3,500 medical
journals dating back more than 20 years; information on effects of drugs and
other chemicals; chemical dictionary with over 800,000 listings; directory of
more than 15,000 organizations serving as information resource centers.
Grateful Med is designed to make it easy to search NLM by making
formulation of the search simple (this process is performed off-line), calling
the NLM computer for you, running the search, disconnecting from the computer,
displaying results and walking you through the printing process.  Knowledge of
medical terminology, while helpful, is not required.
Cost per search:  $2.50 for journal citations ($6.10-$8.85 per hour depending
on time of day, plus miscellaneous other minor charges); $29.95 for Grateful
Med software.  A $40 practice time credit is given when you sign up.
Vendor:  U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' National Library 
of Medicine
Contact: (800) 638-8480 for on-line application;
(800) 553-6847 for Grateful Med software
 
 
4.  PhoneFile
Why:  To find addresses and phone numbers for over 80-million households. Can
search by name and address, name and ZIP code, name and city, name and state
or by phone number only.
Cost per search:  $2.30 ($27.80 per hour)
Vendor:  MetroNet via CompuServe
Contact: CompuServe, (800) 848-8199
 
 
5.  U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Bulletin Board (EBB)
Why:  To get summaries of current economic conditions, employment, income and
housing information by state or county, import and export statistics, all
within 5-20 minutes after release
Cost per search: $2 ($3-$12 per hour depending on time of day)
One-year subscription is $35, which includes $12 search time credit.
Vendor:  U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Business Analysis
Contact:  (202) 377-1986
  
 
6.  Supreme Court decisions supplied by Project Hermes
Why:  To get text of decisions beginning with June 1990 provided by Project
Hermes, an experiment by the Supreme Court to provide opinions electronically
within minutes of their release -- for free.
Cost per search:  $2.50 (approximate cost of 10-minute long-distance
call to Cleveland, OH); no charge for using database 
Vendor:  Free-Net, part of the nonprofit National Public Telecomputing
Network at Case Western Reserve University
Contact: (216) 368-2733, Tom Grundner, or (216) 368-3888 to dial into
Free-Net and sign up on-line
                 
 
7.  Remote Access Chemical Hazards Electronic Library (RACHEL)
Why: To get articles on hazardous materials and on a broad range of
environmental subjects: acid rain, biotechnology, drinking water 
quality, etc.
Cost per search: $2.30 (approximate cost of 10-minute long-distance
call to Washington, DC); no charge for using database
Vendor:  Environmental Research Foundation
Contact: (202) 328-1119
 
 
8.  Newspaper Library 
Why: To get full-text of stories from 48 newspapers, including the
Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Newsday and the five Florida newspapers
available through Dialog and Vu/Text.
Cost per search:  $7.50 ($12.80 per hour, plus $3 search charge,
plus $3 per article)
Vendor:  Dialog and Vu/Text via CompuServe
Contact: CompuServe, 1-800-848-8199
 
 
9.  Cendata
Why:  To get Census Bureau data including population by race, age, sex,
marital status, etc. for any city, county or state in the country
Cost per search:  $1.60 ($12.80 per hour)
Vendor: U.S. Dept. of Commerce Bureau of the Census via CompuServe
Contact: CompuServe, 1-800-848-8199
 
 
10. Biz*File
Why:  To find addresses and phone numbers for over 10-million U.S. and
Canadian businesses. Can search by type of business or company name or
phone number in a particular city, metro area or ZIP code.
Cost per search:  $2.80 ($27.80 per hour)
Vendor:  American Business Information Inc. via Compuserve
Contact: CompuServe, (800) 848-8199
 
 
AND, FINALLY, A TRUE BLUE-LIGHT BONUS:  A FREEBIE!
 
Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC)
Why:  To get citations and abstracts to over 750 education-related
journals dating back more than 25 years and many other different documents
including research and conference papers, books and pamphlets.
Cost per search: Free through local phone numbers at most locations
throughout the state. (Thesaurus of ERIC Descriptors ($75) would be useful,
but not necessary in constructing subject searches.)
Vendor: U.S. Dept. of Education Office of Educational Research and
Improvement through the online catalog of Florida's State University System
libraries (referred to as the Library User Information Service, also known as
"LUIS.")
Contact: FIRN Network Control, (904) 487-0911
        
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