Jeff,
That's a completely understandable situation. I don't know too many sources you can get that aren't going to cost you about $50-100 though. You pick up a steel design textbook and go to the section on beams (here in the midwest we seem to all have either Salmon & Johnson or Gaylord & Gaylord as authors).
If you could describe the beam, how far apart the columns are, how much of the house it caries, what the houses construction is, and the beam size; someone here could tell you if it sounds right or not.
HTH