ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries 388 / C&RL News a re a sp ec ia liz a tio n to en su re b a la n c e . A bout 50,000 titles will appear in the 3d edition. Conclusion The year has also been an exciting one for me personally. I am grateful for the support of my ACRL and ALA friends as I move into a new posi­ tion as director of libraries at Cleveland State Uni­ versity, and honored to have had the opportunity to serve as ACRL President. ■ ■ CD-ROM: A p rim er B y K a r e n A . B e c k e r Circulation Librarian Rosary College Some definitions, questions, and answers on a very hot topic. This prim er evolved from a cheat sheet I pre- pared for myself to alleviate my confusion in deal­ ing w ith the new optical/laser technology. After a t­ tending the Online ’86 conference in Chicago, I realized how much I didn’t know about CD-ROM and related technologies, and attem pting to read the journal literature didn’t help much. Authors as­ sumed th at the reader already understood the b a­ sics, such as: w hat is the difference between video disks and CD-ROM (there’s a difference?), w hat are the “com patibility” problems to which every­ one kept referring (com patible w ith w hat?), or w h at is really a “fair” price? The presentations and demonstrations were very am azing, but I w anted to be able to ask the salespeople and representatives some intelligent questions, and wished I was more fam iliar w ith the “burning issues.” This article is divided into tw o parts: the first p art includes a “family tree” of optical technology and a list of definitions. As these applications of la­ ser technology are fairly new, definitions do vary som ewhat from source to source, but I have tried to synthesize the most commonly recognized defini­ tions. The second p art attem pts to cover the issues currently being discussed w ith reference to optical technology, especially as it relates to libraries. The purpose of this paper is to instill confidence in the reader—confidence to read a journal article (even in a com puter journal!) and confidence to com m u­ nicate w ith publishers and vendors of optical tech­ nology. Optical disks O ptical disk: Generic term for media produced and read w ith laser technology. Laser disk: O ptical disk. A nalog/digital: An analog signal has signifi­ cance at all times. An analog (dial) w atch can show any time, such as 8:32 and 37 seconds. Television transmissions use analog signals. A digital signal is m easured as being either on or off, up or down, etc. A digital w atch will show the tim e as being either 8:32 or 8:33. Digital signals are commonly used in com puter program m ing languages. The im portant fact to rem em ber from all this, is th a t some optical technology uses the analog form at, and some the digital form at. How are optical disks made? The inform ation is converted to the proper form at (analog or digital) and w ritten on a master disk w ith a laser (master- 390 / C&RL News ing the disk). The master is made of glass, metal, or durable plastic, and the laser engraves or burns pits and bumps into the disk (in order to access the disk, another, lower power laser reads these pits and bumps). The most common method of replicating these disks is by stamping out copies from the mas­ ter, similar to the process for making phonograph records. Each disk is protected from wear and tear by a clear plastic coating. The head of the optical disk reader (drive) does not touch the actual surface of the disk—a laser reads the disk through the coat­ ing. This gives the disks an estimated life of 10 years. Video disks Video disk: 12-inch disks usually recording sound and moving images such as motion pictures. The information is recorded on the disk in an ana­ log format—the standard format for television sig­ nals. Laser video disk: Video disk. Optical video disk: Video disk. Reflective optical video disk: The video disk for­ m at most commonly used for recordings of movies. The disk has a silvery, rainbow color. Digitally encoded video disk: Digital (machine- readable) data is converted to an analog format for recording on a video disk; this is the most economi­ cal format for recording still pictures, and is often used for interactive applications using motion pic­ tures, still pictures, audio, and digital (textual) data. Digital video disk: Digitally encoded video disk. HDTV video disk: Video disks encoded with a signal readable by the new HDTV (high definition television). This experimental technology televi­ sion has 1125 lines per screen rather than the con­ ventional 230 to 525 lines. Optical digital data disks Optical digital data disk: A large, 12-inch disk recorded with digital information. OD3: Optical digital data disk. DRAW (Direct Read After Write): Each disk is w ritte n in d iv id u ally and seq u en tially (not stamped) and checked for errors as it is being w rit­ ten. If there is an error, the data is immediately re­ written. This process is time consuming, and can take 15% to 30% of the disk capacity. WORM: Write Once, Read Many (or Mostly). User may write or record additional data, but can­ not change data already input. Writable optical disk: WORM. Read/Write disks: Producers are experimenting with a disk that has the quality of erasahility, per­ mitting optical media to overcome the problems of read-only memory, and to compete more directly with magnetic media such as floppy disks or com­ puter tape. Compact disks Compact disk: Data is recorded in digital form (machine readable) on disks 4¾ inches in diame­ ter. Compact disks can support audio (sound) and digital (textual) information. Video images are possible, but may not be economical since the ana­ log signals must first be converted to digital form. Compact audio disk: Stereo audio signals re­ corded in digital format. Each can record about 75 minutes of music. Digital audio disk: Compact audio disk. CD-ROM: Compact Disk—Read Only Mem­ ory. Can hold as much character-encoded digital data as 1,200 to 1,600 floppy disks, or 200 books of 300 pages each. Read Only Memory means that the data is permanently written on the disk—it cannot be added to, erased, rewritten, or altered. CD-I: Compact Disk Interactive. A technology experimenting with disks storing video, audio, and digital (textual) information on one disk. These products are intended for the consumer mass m ar­ ket (educational, entertainment, etc.) CD-PROM: Com pact Disk—Program m able Read Only Memory. A CD with write once tech­ nology (see WORM). DataROM: Sony’s entry into the CD-ROM m ar­ ket is 5 inches, and will be erasable or write once data storage on one side, and permanent on the other. OROM: 3M’s entry into the optical technology market is 5 inches, and has write once capabilities. Laser card/Optical cards Laser card/Optical card: A related technology; the data is recorded on a small plastic card, and has write once capabilities. Questions W hat is the proper spelling, disk or disc? “Disc” is often used by producers and advertisers. How­ ever, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, the Encyclopaedia Britannica, and of course, On­ line have opted for “Disk.”1 W hat are the components of a CD-ROM system? 1) A computer such as an IBM PC; 2) Software to access the data; 3) An interface card (interface board); 4) Disk player (reader, drive); and 5) Com­ pact disks. Can all CD-ROM disks be read by all CD-ROM disk players? In theory, yes, but in real life, no. The disks and drives are manufactured to certain speci­ fications of size and shape. However, CD-ROM producers have not established a standard for file formats and software, so the data can be organized 1Jeff Pemberton, “Shooting Ourselves in the F oot...and Other Consequences of Laserdisks,” Online 10 (May 1986):9; and Jeff Pemberton, edi­ tor’s note in Nancy Herther, “CDROM Technol­ ogy: A New Era for Information Storage and Re­ trieval?” Online 9 (November 1985): 17. Log on to Computer & Mathematics Search W hen you log o n to C o m ­ p u te r & M ath­ ematics Search, you can search nearly 400 key jour­ nals in m a th e m a tic s, c o m ­ puter science, statistics, operations research, and re la te d fields. And you can lo c ate hardware, software, and database reviews, along with articles on com puter science and mathematics applications appearing in m ore than 6,000 additional journals in sci­ ence, m edicine, business, the social sci­ ences, and the arts & humanities. Computer & Mathematics Search makes searching this literature fast and easy by offering a variety of access points to each item. Search by author name, author affilia­ tion, title w ords, o r cited references. Or search by R esearch Fronts to find the core literature of many research areas— even if you have no specific author or title information. And because the file is updated biweekly, C o m p u ter & M a th e ­ m atics Search gives you the most current com puter and m athem atics inform ation available. Approximately 2,100 items are added p e r biw eekly update! For r e t r o ­ spective searching, the file covers the lit­ erature back to 1980. Log on to C om puter & M athem atics Search. And find all th e co m p u ter and m a th e m a tic s in fo rm a tio n y o u ’re searching for. Available o n BRS. 392 / C&RL News on the disks differently by each publisher. NISO (the National Information Standards Association) and the High Sierra Group (an ad hoc group of CD- ROM advocates) are working on setting these types of standards. There are also choices to be made re­ garding interface systems (see below). However, some people feel that it is too soon to set standards, that standards will stifle creativity and evolution of the technology.2 W h a t does the interface card do? CD-ROM drives (players) need an interface system in order to link up w ith a m icrocom puter. D ifferent CD- ROM publishers have developed different inter­ faces between selected computers (e.g., VAX, IBM PC), and particular brands of CD players (e.g., Sony, Hitachi, or Philips). The three most common interfaces are SCSI (Small Computer Systems In ­ terface) , SASI (Shugart Associates Standard Inter­ face), and Philips high-speed serial interface. The in te rfa c e b o ard is p rovided by the p u b lish er. Nancy Herther notes, “The SCSI drive appears to have support as the de facto standard for interfac­ ing the CD-ROM drives to microcomputers.”3 W hat are some related C D –ROM drive technol­ ogies? Large databases with multiple disks store the disks in a JUKEBOX, which works the same way as a phonograph record jukebox. The jukebox me­ chanically chooses and retrieves the disk containing the requested information and inserts it into an at­ tached reader. A more recent innovation is “Phil­ ips’ new 5-inch half-height CD-ROM drive which will fit into the floppy slot of a m icrocom puter.”4 Can I access databases on CD-ROM using the same commands I use online? Generally, yes. The CD-ROM publishers have adapted the access soft­ w are from the online systems. However, the more advanced commands may not be available for use (for example, proximity searching with “N”) . Some systems, such as InfoTrac, do not offer Boolean searching at all. The search and retrieval software is provided by the publisher. Also be aware that databases on CD-ROM don’t always contain all the backfiles of the online database. Some, such as ERIC on Silverplatter, perm it the user to purchase the disks containing the backfile, and replace only the current disk quarterly. Dissertation Abstracts on CD will contain from 1861 to the present, but Compact Medline has only about 2 years of data. W hat kind of computer do I need? Each CD- ROM product has its own specification. Types of computers commonly listed include Apple, VAX, IBM PC, and IBM PC compatibles, and may re­ quire a minimum amount of memory such as 256K or 512K. Some especially large databases may re­ quire a hard disk drive. 2Optical/Electronic Publishing Directory 1986 (Medford, N.J.: Learned Information, 1986), pp. 14 21 -22. 3Nancy H erther, “CDROM and Inform ation Dissemination: An U pdate,” Online 11 (March 1987) :59. 4Ibid., p. 60. W hat type of inform ation is available for li­ braries in the CD-ROM format? 1) Support tools such as BiblioFile (1.4 million MARC records), Books in Print, Ulrich’s; 2) Databases such as ERIC and Medline; and 3) Reference tools such as the Ac­ ademic American Encyclopedia and the Oxford English Dictionary (1987). W hat is the price range for CD-ROM products? Expensive!! Grolier Electronic Encyclopedia has a one-time charge of $199 for the disk, but the inter­ face card is an additional $395 and the search soft­ ware another $199, so be careful to check w hat is included and w hat is extra! Examples of annual subscription charges include Books in Print Plus at $895 per year, Ulrich’s at $395 per year, Compact Disclosure at $3,200 per year, D ialog on Disc ERIC at $3,450 per year, Com pact Medline at $6,350 per year, and Datext Corporate Inform a­ tion Database at $19,600 per year! Be aware that some publishers are offering discounts for p u r­ chases of multiple copies or cooperative group p u r­ chases by libraries. Publishers also offer special lease, purchase, and rent–to–own deals on the CD players, but check around since prices for hard­ ware are falling. Why is it so expensive? Publishers insist that the process of creating the master is very expensive. However, some librarians feel that once the master is cre a te d , th e publishers could recover th e ir money faster by distributing more disks at a lower cost. Publishers also feel th at thev have no control over the data once it is sent to a library; theoreti­ cally it could be copied and distributed, especially with advances in WORM technology. Also, they have m ade a big investment in time, money, and resources on a still experimental technology, so they have to recoup th at investment as quickly as possible. Inform ation providers also raise the issue of the cost of the medium (the extrinsic costs of cre­ ating and replicating the disks), against the issue of the value of the contents (the intrinsic value of the inform ation).5 Will prices be going down in the near future? Prices for hardw are are predicted to drop, as audio CDs take hold in the consumer market, since audio CD players are m anufactured with the same tech­ nology as CD-ROM players. And, of course, prices for IBM PC com patibles are very reasonable. Prices for databases are another m atter. Some in­ formation providers adam antly state th at prices will not fall significantly, while others adm it that they may be pricing themselves out of the market (ERIC on Silverplatter has recently dropped its 5Herther, “CDROM and Inform ation Dissemi­ nation,” p. 59; Pemberton, “Shooting Ourselves,” p. 10; Nancy Herther, “A Light in Your Future: Market and Technology Trends in Optical Storage, an Interview with E dw ard S. Rothchild,” Online 11 (January 1987):129; David C. Miller, “Laser Disks at the Library Door: The Microsoft First In ­ ternational Conference on CD-ROM ,” Library Hi Tech 4 (Summer 1986):58-59. July /August 1987 / 393 prices from the introductory rate of $1,750 to $650 an n u ally for the q u arte rly updates, and from $2,000 to a $900 one-time charge for their back- files) . Could libraries share disks? Probably not, but again this may differ with each publisher. When asked about their policies concerning conditions of usage, publishers gave answers ranging from “no restrictions” to “copyrighted” to “public dom ain” to “standard software licensing agreement” to “use restricted to workstation level.”6 Inform ation pro­ viders expressing concern over how to m aintain control over “their” data need to work on this issue with librarians. 6Helen Gordon, editor’s note in Bruce Connolly, “Laserdisk Directory: Part I ,” Database 9 (June 1986): 15. Is this technology here to stay, or is this just a fad? Do you think the glass is half-empty or half­ full? No one can predict w hat will happen with op­ tical technology. New processes and applications are being discovered all the time. The new CD-I form ats m ay influence the CD-ROM form ats. Prices for CD-ROM databases may fall to reason­ able levels. Omnidrives which can play CDs, video formats, and WORM formats may be invented.7 The situation in some libraries may indicate that using certain databases on CD-ROM is less expen­ sive th a n accessing them online. W h at do you think? ■ ■ 7 Optical/Electronic Publishing Directory 1986, p. 19. P la n n in g for CD-ROM in the R eferen ce D ep artm en t B y G a il T . G raves Head, Reference Department University of Mississippi a n d B e th F . K in g Systems Librarian University of Mississippi L a u r a G. H a r p e r Head, Online Search Services University o f Mississippi How to select software and equipment. T he decision to purchase CD-ROM databases re- quires a commitment from librarians to adapt to a new technology, to approach bibliographic in­ struction from a new perspective, and to stay abreast of developments in a rapidly changing field. This decision cannot be made hastily. Im ple­ m enting this new service requires an initial com­ m itm ent of resources for equipment and a revision of the materials budget to absorb considerable on­ going expenses. The Williams Library at the University of Mis­ sissippi has a centralized Reference D epartm ent th a t provides prim ary service to all disciplines, with the exception of law, pharm acy, chemistry, and music. The library has offered a fee-based search service for ten years and acquired Info Trac two years ago. The head of reference and the online search coordinator had observed the development