The following are a number of references which discuss the use of color
and legibility of text.

Lalomia, M.J., and Happ, A.J. (1987). The Effective Use of Color for
Text on the IBM 5153 Color Display. Proceedings of the Human Factors
Society 31st Annual Meeting, 1091-1095.

Matthews, M.L., and Mertins, K. (1987). The influence of color on visual
search and subjective discomfort using CRT displays. Proceedings of the
Human Factors Society 31st Annual Meeting, 1271-1275.

Mayhew, D.J. (1992). Principles and Guidelines in Software User
Interface Design. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:  Prentice Hall.

Morgan, M.R.P. (1995). Color me blue^Åor red or green?  Lessons from the
literature on color and usability. Proceedings 1995 IEEE International
Professional Communication Conference, 72-75.

Murch, G.M. (1984). Physiological principles for the effective use of
color. IEEE Computer Graphics and Applications, 4, 49-54.

Pace, B. (1984). Color combinations and contrast reversals with the
alphanumerics of visual display units. Unpublished doctoral
dissertation, Texas A&M University, College Station, Tx.


I particularly recommend Murch's article which gives the physiological
reasons pure blue colors should not be used for text (such as the
yellowing of the cornea as we age, which cuts down on perception of blue
colors).  I'm working on the use of background and icon color as it
affects reaction and response time for my dissertation and would be
happy to discuss it with anyone interested.