kam@itivax.iti.org (Keith A. McNabb) (05/18/89)
Several more people have asked about my survey of free text databases. Unfortunately, only about 50% of my email responses are successful. So, if you have asked and haven't received a reply, here is one further update: There is an OED system at the University of Waterloo which runs on 32-bit machines. I'm supposed to be receiving information by regular mail. Perhaps the person who responded to my original inquiry might wish to post a brief description for all ... Also, I've looked over four very low-cost PC-based products: Lightning Search, Ask-It, AnyWord and 3by5. All have the basic search capabilities, including Boolean operators and nesting, but they are very limited compared to the expensive mini and mainframe products. None have numeric operators (date > xxxx, cost < 200, etc.), and only 3by5 has built-in printing capabilities. NOTE: ===== >> My apologies to the scholars at Berkeley for misspelling the name of your fair city. There is, you see, a BERKLEY, MICHIGAN, a suburb of Detroit. Also, I should have noted that Earl Kinmonth is at UC Davis - his email was simply routed via Berkeley. -- Keith McNabb