We'd like to welcome our latest sponsor, InfoSeek Corporation. InfoSeek is among the first companies to make commercial-quality information available on the Internet for searching via paid subscription (using authenticated Web browsers). Although the concept of paying to search databases is still uncommon on the Internet, it makes sense when the only way to bring that information to the Internet is by buying it from a commercial vendor - few companies wish to give away information that they can sell in other venues. InfoSeek has gone far in providing inexpensive access though, by charging $9.95 per month with 100 free transactions.

Among the standard collections are ComputerWorld; Usenet News (either the current week or the last four weeks); NewsBytes; Cineman Movie, Book, and Music Reviews; FrameMaker 4.0 Help Notes; Hoover's Masterlist of U.S. Companies; and information from various wire services. Also included are premium collections that charge extra for each search or retrieval such as InfoWorld, Hoover's Company Profiles, and the Computer Select full text database of 100 computer publications. Unfortunately, although InfoWorld and Hoover's Company Profiles have reasonable additional rates, Computer Select requires that InfoSeek charge a ludicrous amount - $5 for a four-week subscription with one free retrieval and $5 per retrieval after that. Needless to say, I've limited my searching to the standard and free collections and have yet to use up my 100 free transactions each month. If you do research online in the sort of databases InfoSeek currently has, check them out at: [ACE]

http://www.infoseek.com/TBITS/