None of these electronic newspapers are the full-text equivalent of their print versions. Some claim to include a significant portion of the newsprint version, but many choose to go with what will most likely tantalize readers into subscribing to the "paper paper." For example, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution electronic edition highlights the upcoming Olympics, The Christian Science Monitor features events in Bosnia and The Wall Street Journal presents a "live" version of the print Journal's third section, "Money and Investing." For the present time all of these electronic newspapers are available to Web surfers at no charge, but none of them promise to do so indefinitely.

Perhaps the most exciting online newspaper offering to date is The New York Times electronic edition. Available at http://www.nytimes.org/ or via NewsLink, The New York Times offers you many online options. For example, true New York Times junkies can view the actual scanned front page of the print version to select stories to read or can select from a listing of the headlines from the front page. The following sections are offered electronically: CyberTimes, Politics, Editorials/Letters, Op-Ed, Arts and Leisure, Travel, Real Estate, Job Market, and Diversions (crossword puzzles and other games). Popular features such as "The Science Times" are promised in the near future, perhaps by the time this column goes to press. Each of these sections presents articles from the present day's edition as well as selected articles from the previous six days. The Real Estate and Job Market sections provide a search engine to assist users in identifying classified listings of interest.

The New York Times electronic edition takes full advantage of Internet functionality. Links to other Internet sites are featured in context of selected articles and e-mailing capability is exploited to its fullest by offering readers the ability to post comments and questions to topical forums. There are two types of forums: general and feature. General forums allow readers to interact via e-mail on a wide range of topics from the Arts to the Whitewater controversy. Feature forums are moderated by hosts who frame questions and encourage discussion. The forum on "The Press and Politics" is hosted by longtime television correspondent Marvin Kalb who is presently the director of the Shorenstein Center on the Press at Harvard University, for example.

Electronic newspapers are fun to read (and interact with) but they are of limited value to the scholarly researcher. Members of the university community are reminded that NEXIS/LEXIS, the largest full text database of newspapers and other periodicals in the world with text going back years (rather than days), is available for curricular use in Lockwood Library and the Undergraduate Library. Although lacking the convenience of being available via the Web, the richness of NEXIS/LEXIS makes it well worth the trip into the library!

For information on connecting to NewsLink and The New York Times at the above listed URLs via your UB e-mail account, contact the Computing Center Help Desk at 645-3542. For information on using NEXIS/LEXIS, contact Don Hartman, unldon@acsu.buffalo.edu, Lockwood Library, 645-2817.

-Gemma DeVinney and Don Hartman, University Libraries