This first article of a three-part series provides an overview of the record format, organization, and coverage of two databanks providing legal information. Tables cover record segments and fields and inclusion of information from federal libraries, state cases, United Kingdom and French law libraries, and additional libraries and services. (EJS)

Describes five online databases that focus on computer products, primarily software and microcomputing hardware, and compares the databases in terms of record content, product coverage, vertical market coverage, currency, availability, and price. Sample records and searches are provided, as well as a directory of product databases. (CLB)

Discussion of the use of CD-ROM databases for end-user searching versus online database searching in academic libraries focuses on a comparison of two databases, "Psychological Abstracts" and "Sociological Abstracts," that were searched in both formats. Factors of response time, coverage, content, and cost were investigated for…