>I have absolutely no experience with or knowledge of Oracle systems. A prospective client may need me to integrate information with their system. Any thoughts as to the quickest way to get up to speed at least enough to have this conversation with them?

See my reply to your other thread. Next, get Personal Oracle for your own computer. PO8 works on desktop or laptop PCs and is invaluable for development work without the expense of a true Oracle server.
Plus, the databse you develop in PO is fully exportable for importing into the production Oracle database.