The present article shows how online databases can be practical tools for translators, just as they are for researchers in most disciplines. Major emphasis is on how to search for English equivalents of foreign words and phrases, primarily German, French and Russian. The authors find that the fruitful databases are COMPENDEX and INSPEC for engineering, metallurgical, and computer terms, and MEDLINE and EMBASE for biomedial terms. Examples demonstrate simple, easy-to-learn searching techniques and results.