Economic Literature Index

This is a bit of a stretch, but this electronic index of bibliographical entries from the Journal of Economic Literature is now available indirectly through the Internet. First, one must have an account with CompuServe (call 1-800-848-8990 for information in the U.S.) for this relatively low-cost method. One can log onto CompuServe by telneting to compuserve.com (enter "CIS" for the "Host Name"). After entering account information and communication speed (I'd never done telnet at 300 bps before), move to "Reference", then to "Knowledge Index", which is a joint project of CompuServe and Dialog (it is a means for Dialog to discriminate among its customers). Knowledge Index is available only after business hours (6:00 PM - 5:00AM Monday - Thursday and 6:00 PM Friday - 5:00 AM Monday local time; closed 2:00 - 10:00 AM Sunday, Pacific Time). The Economic Literature Index (known as ECON1, the only database in the Economics Section) is one of approximately 100 databases in Knowledge Index. In Knowledge Index, first go to the "Business Information" section, then "General Business Information". It costs $24/hour, which doesn't seem to be very low in price, until you look at Dialog.

I originally had some trouble connecting to Knowledge Index - the characters were garbled. This was solved by using the Kermit version of telnet. I understand that Knowledge Index requires 8 data bits and 1 stop bit, and it appears that not all telnets can do this (including the three I have ready access to). Kermit appears to do this by default. Kermit for many platforms can be obtained at this address.

• ftp://kermit.columbia.edu/kermit