Much online information is not available through search engines or subject directories. Giant databases of wonderfully aggregated and organized information is unavailable -- except for a price.

These fee-based databases go by many names -- professional online services, gated sites, commercial vendors.

Examples include Dialog, LEXIS-NEXIS and Dow Jones Interactive, also known as Factiva.

These services can be tremendously expensive, charging hundreds of dollars an hour during a search. But many services provide discounts to universities. The services want students to know and use their products so they'll ask their employers for them in the future.

1) To better understand databases, please read a brief presentation:

5-Databases

Please send me an email detailing what you found.

2) Lehigh has accounts with many of these databases. I would like you to become familiar with perhaps the most popular and important fee-based database: Lexis-Nexis.

As the name implies, the database actually has two sides. Lexis offers a huge trove of legal information, comparable only to Westlaw. If you have any thoughts of law school, you will know Lexis and Westlaw.

Nexis provides access to hundreds of newspapers, magazines, business journals and other publications. You don't just search and get abstracts. You can often search and get the full text of articles right on your desktop.

I would like you to become skilled with Lexis-Nexis, if you are not already. Lehigh receives a version called "Academic Universe."

From Lehigh's home page, you can click on Libraries and under Electronic Resources you can take the link to the many Databases available to Lehigh. (You don't have to be on campus obviously to do this. Just go to Lehigh's home page over the Web and go to Libraries, then Electronic Resources.) Browse down to Lexis-Nexis Academic Universe.

You may have to set up an off-campus "proxy" to use the databases. That's actually a good skill to learn; the Lehigh site has good directions on how to do this.

At Lexis-Nexis, look over the Site Map, the How Do I, and Help sections. Look particularly at "Researching: The Basics."

I would like you to do a search of any topic you would like using Nexis. Pick a news category, such as general news, choose a source, such as major papers, and then search your topic for a particular set of dates.

Send me an email detailing what you found. Have you used Nexis before? What for? How might it be useful to you?

3) Our readings confront a seemingly trivial topic that is getting more and more important to Internet discussions: Spam.

Once just a mere nuisance, spam is beginning to influence how people use the Internet, the actions of Interent service providers and the directions of online companies.

I would like you to learn a little about the history of spam, arguments against spam, and even an argument in defense of spam. Those of you interested in business, marketing and advertising will want to think in depth about the implications of spam.

Please read:

A History of Spam

Origins of the Term, Spam

Fight Spam on the Internet

In Defense of Spam

Please send me an email detailing what you found. Once you read and have thought about these issues, please go to our online discussion area at http://bb.lehigh.edu and talk about them. Share with your classmates: What do you think about spam? Is it a serious issue for you? Does it change your email or Internet habits? Do spammers have rights? Let's talk about it.

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