Newsgroups
There are many database related newsgroups available through your Internet Service Provider's (ISP) (or corporation's standard Usenet connection. In addition to accessing the current content of these newsgroups through your ISP, you might find it very useful when researching specific questions to query the Usenet archives at the www.deja.com/usenetWeb site. Newsgroups to check out include:
comp. databases-This newsgroup provides generic database technology discussions or discussions referring to a database for which a specific group does not exist.
comp.databases.oracle-This newsgroup provides Oracle discussions.
Vendor-Sponsored Discussion Areas
Oracle offers access to user-to-user discussion groups on its technologies (the Oracle database server, programming Oracle-based applications, XML, Java, etc.) and other support resources at technet.oracle.com with free registration to the Oracle Technology Network (OTN). Anyone can register for the OTN, and if you're interested in Oracle, it's a must.
Magazines and Journals
As with most technology oriented periodicals, database related magazines tend to maintain an online presence to augment their printed publications. Some include content not available in the actual printed versions. If your favorite magazine is not on the following list, try searching for it by title on www.altavista.com, and you will probably locate its Web site.
Oracle Magazine (www.oramag.com)-This site includes links to the online homes of several Oracle publishing periodicals including Oracle Magazine.The Oracle Magazine site includes searchable access to current and archived articles as well as a tips and techniques section. Print subscriptions are free to qualified readers.
Oracle Professional Newsletter (www.oracleprofessionalnewsletter.com)- This site is Oracle Professional Newsletter's online presence. It includes content from current and past issues. Some articles are freely available; others are restricted to subscribers only. Print subscriptions are $199; a free three-issue trial is also available.
Intelligent Enterprise (www.intelligententerprise.com)-This site is the online presence of Intelligent Enterprise, a database magazine oriented more toward managers in larger organizations. Although not specific to Oracle, it contains information that is likely to be relevant to those interested in Oracle. This site also includes archives of DBMS Magazine and Database Programming and Design Magazine, which merged into Intelligent Enterprise over the past couple years. Print subscriptions are free to qualified readers.
Reference Books
Loney, Kevin, and Marlene Theriault. Oracle8i DBA Handbook. Osborne/ McGraw-Hill, 1999. ISBN 0072121882.
Loney, Kevin, and George Koch. Oracle 8i:The Complete Reference. Osborne/ McGraw-Hill, 2000. ISBN 0072123648.
Web Pages
Web sites of interest to database designers tend to fall into two categories: database vendors' technical support/marketing sites and user-to-user sites. Note that vendor maintained sites are a source of marketing spin as well as invaluable technical information, such as support knowledge base articles, product details, Web searchable documentation, and sometimes tutorials. Investigating the Oracle Web site and becoming familiar with searching it before a user calls to report an error message (and expects you to resolve the issue within three minutes) is highly recommended. As with the discussion groups, in order to access some of the site's technical content, it is necessary to sign up as a member of the OTN-don't worry, it's free. The Oracle Web site can be found at www.oracle.com.
Additionally, some end-user maintained sites related to Oracle include:
Dbasupport.com (www.dbasupport.com)-An online community for Oracle users. This site contains discussion forums, an Oracle FAQ, sample Oracle scripts, information about Oracle certification, a mailing list sign-up, and other features of interest to potential Oracle DBAs.
Tlie Oracle User Forum and Fan Club (www.orafans.com)-Another online community for Oracle users and fans, as the name suggests.This site offers Web-based discussion groups, software that might be of interest to those using Oracle databases, and direct links to purchase Oracle related books.
Underground Oracle FAQ (www.orafaq.com)-This site contains a very complete, nicely hyperlinked Oracle FAQ and discussion boards.
Why all the different third-party Oracle Web sites? Each has its own community of regulars and a unique style. If you're looking for an answer to a question, you might search all of them. If you're looking for one to visit on a regular basis just to keep up-to-date, browse each one, and choose the one that most closely fits your interests and personality. Most sites have a "Links" section that may lead you to other interesting Web sites beyond those in this list.
Professional Associations
As with most top-tier database products, Oracle has an active user community that participates in international and local users groups. In addition to groups focused on the general use of the Oracle database platform, there is another users group that concentrates on the Oracle business applications, such as General Ledger, Project Costing, and Accounts Payable.
The International Oracle Users Group's Web site is located at www.ioug.org.
Oracle Magazine maintains a list of regional and local Oracle users groups on its Web site. As of this writing, the list can be found at www.oracle.com/ oramag/misc/users.html, but because Web sites tend to be reorganized on a regular basis, you might need to search the Oracle MagazineWeb site at www.oramag.com to find this information in the future.
The Oracle Applications Users Group for users of Oracle business applications can be found at www.oaug.org.
Summary
The Oracle segment of the database industry is enjoying significant popularity, particularly in larger organizations. The Oracle platform is evolving to stay current with new technologies (such as Java) as they appear, ensuring that it will be a viable database solution for the foreseeable future. There are a variety of opportunities for those who want more business oriented database responsibilities (such as working with corporate management in the implementation of Oracles financial applications) as well as those who want more technically oriented responsibilities (such as the ongoing maintenance of key databases for the organization). In keeping with Oracle's position as an industry leader, it maintains a challenging certification program and does an excellent job of making technical product information available on its Web site. Additionally, the third-party educational and user community support for Oracle is excellent, as shown by the number of users groups, books, magazines, and Web sites dedicated to the Oracle database and associated applications.
