municipal, corporate, and university libraries for a fee. Information consumers then access the data through these libraries. Some of the better known databases include Wilson Business Center,...

municipal, corporate, and university libraries for a fee. Information consumers then access the data through these libraries. Some of the better known databases include Wilson Business Center, Hoovers, PROQUEST, INFOTRAC, DIALOG (Dialog Information Services, Inc.), LEXIS-NEXIS, and Dow Jones News Retrieval Services. These databases provide all types of information including recent news stories and data tables charting statistical trends. DIALOG, for example, maintains more than 600 databases. A typical database may have a million or more records, each consisting of a one- or two-paragraph abstract that