All listings referred to in this article are available by anonymous download in the file ftp://ftp.ssc.com/pub/lj/listings/issue73/3970.tgz.
The DBI and CGI modules for Perl are available from CPAN (the comprehensive Perl Archive Network) at http://www.cpan.org/.
MySQL, the “mostly free” database, is available at http://www.mysql.com/.
Jakob Nielsen, the Web usability guru, wrote about average users' abilities to formulate boolean searches properly in an old “Alertbox” column at http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9707b.html. Nielsen's new book, Designing Web Usability (published by New Riders), describes these and other usability issues in great detail.
The best-known guru of databases and web sites is Philip Greenspun, whose priceless book (Philip and Alex's Guide to Web Publishing) and web site (http://www.photo.net/) are probably the best guides of their type.