Due to the smattering of SQL databases out there, it was a bit frustrating trying to find the appropriate syntax for Oracle SQL when I wanted to do a date conversion to MM-DD-YYYY. I found a great IBM article on the topic which helped me out. Turns out to_date() and to_char() are my friends.

http://www-1.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21134739

If anyone has an excellent online Oracle SQL reference that I don't know about, with real-world examples, please comment and let me know :)