Hi Mark - There is an interesting discussion on this topic. I think you can go with ojdbc14 to connect with newer versions as well along with 8i
Please check the below threads -
JDBC adapter for Oracle 8i & Oracle 9i Database
JDBC Adapter: Deploying Multiple Database Drivers
java - Can we use ojdbc14.jar with Oracel11g and jdk1.5 - Stack Overflow
