robertj@tekgen.BV.TEK.COM (Robert Jaquiss) (04/18/89)
The following is a meeting notice for SIGCAT (Special
Interest Group on CD-ROM Applications& Technology).
Although this is an announcement for a meeting long since
held; I thought it contained sufficient material of interest
that it should be posted.
Robert S. Jaquiss Jr.
c
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Special Interest Group on CD-ROM Applications& Technology
January 26,1989 Meeting
Welcome to 1989 -- the year in which many are saying that
CD-ROM will really begin to take off. Although the runway has been
a bit longer than expected, I believe that the industry is about
to take flight and soar. One of the reasons for my optimism is the
number of discs slated for production this coming year. To date,
the CD-ROM industry has produced close to 500 CD-ROM titles. But,
if things go as planned during fiscal year 1989, one govemment
agency alone will almost double that figure. With 400 or so replica-
tions of each title, this same agency will have produced over
180,000 CD-ROM discs by next Christmas. Certainly, this point won't
go unnoticed by the CD-ROM mastering and replication community.
The govemment agency creating all of this excitement is the
Defense Mapping Agency (DMA). Those of you attending the Microsoft
CD-ROM Conference 2 years ago may have heard Mark Shelberg announce
the DMA's plans to produce some 10,000 master discs as part of their
overall CD-ROM program. Well, it's apparently beginning to happen.
Mark is the project leader for the Optical Disc Initiative and will
be coming in from St. Louis to kick off the first SIGCAT meeting
of 1989 with an overview of DMA's ambitious plans to use CD-ROM for
digital map chart distribution. Nftk will be discussing the Arc
Digitized Raster Graphics (ADRG) CD-ROMs that will soon be emerging
from DMA at the rate of 400 to 500 masters per year. Each ADRG
(disc will contain charts digitized at an inherent resolution of
100 microns, fine enough to distinguish the cross on top of the
symbol that represents a church on the original 40"x60" map. In
addition, each pixel on the digitized image is 24 bits deep (8 bits
for each of the three primary colors) for a total palette of
approximately 16.7 million colors. All of this precision results in
a file between 300 and 400 megabytes in size for each chart. You can
now see why DMA is using CD-ROM for its data distribution needs.
Another reason for believing that 1989 will be a banner year
for CD-ROM is the acceptance and use of the technology by major
computer manufacturers. Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) was one
of the first major vendors to use CD-ROM for distributing
documentation and support manuals for its line of computing
equipment. Other companies such as Hewlett-Packard and Compaq
Computer have followed suit. Now DEC is expanding its use of CDROM,
and Dilip Phadke, Systems Marketing Manager for
Electronic Publishing, will be coming from Nashua, N.H., to make
several important announcements. Dilip will also discuss the status
of the software device drivers that will allow users of DEC
MicroVAX equipment to directly access CD-ROM discs mastered in
accordance with the ISO 9660 standard. This latter development
underlines the importance of ISO 9660 as the means of finally making
CDROM discs accessible across different computing environments.
One of the signs that an industry is beginning to mature is the
emergence of a representative trade association. CDROM technology
has now evolved into a robust optical publishing enterprise that has
attracted the attention and efforts of a wide range of participants,
from content providers to software developers to hardware
manufacturers. It's now time for an organization to officially
represent these participants on the issues facing the industry as
a whole, such as providing market support and promotion of the
technology and medium as an electronic publishing altemative;
providing a technical forum for the discussion of compatibilities,
standards, and new technologies among the optical publishing
community; and providing a focal point for complete and accurate
information about the technology and the industry for educational
and public relations purposes. It's now time for the Optical
Publishing Association (OPA). Under the guidance of executive
director Richard Bowers, the OPA was formed recently to pursue the
above goals as well as to create literature and programs to further
the application of optical publishing technologies, cooperative
marketing services for its membership, special interest groups for
vertical markets, and a range of other services. Richard will
provide an overview on the OPA and how it might work with SIGCAT
to continue spreading the word about the potential of CD-ROM to
change the world of data disseminafion.
Another sign of industry maturity is the appearance of an
"Everything you need to know about..." book. Except that, instead
of a book, we have (you guessed it) a CD-ROM disc! Produced by
Diversified Data Resources, Inc. (DDRI), the CD-ROM Sourcedisc
contains descriptions of more than 300 commercially available CD-ROM
products and more than 80 simulations of these products supplied by
the publishers. In addition to the information on CD-ROM products,
The CD-ROM Sourcedisc also contains the full texts of "CD-ROM: The
New Papyrus" and "CD-ROM: Op-
tical Publishing," both from Microsoft Press, and "Tech Briefs"
published in CD Data Report from Langley Publications, Inc. These
CD-ROM reference materials are supplemented by an extensive glossary
and a list of acronyms, both specific to the CD-ROM industry.
Describing this unique and useful product will be the president of
DDRI, Linda Helgerson. Linda will also provide the SIGCAT
audience with an update on some of the more significant happenings
in the CD-ROM industry. Knowing Linda, this presentation alone will
be worth more than the price of admission.
Organizations, both in the Federal sector and in private
industry, are continuing to push down the cost of accessing
govemment databases. The most recent effort comes from a local
company called U.S. Statistics which has developed abrand-new disc
in conjunction with JVC Disc America and the University of Alabama.
Known as the FEDSTAT CDROM, this disc contains the most popular
and widely used Federal statistical data files, many of which
contain detailed county-level data such as County Business Patteerns
Statistical Abstract, and the County and City Databook. Also in-
cluded is the Regional Economic Information System as well as the
prototype 1990 Census files. According to Warren Glimpse, president
of U.S. Statistics, FEDSTAT is the first CD-ROM to contain a
"microdata" statistical survey file, which allows a user to apply
his or her own favorite cross-tabulation software to do things like
estimate the characteristics of households, families, or persons.
FEDSTAT is remarkable not only because of the volume of useful data
that it contains but also because it is priced at $195 and contains
the equivalent of data files sold directly by Federal agencies on
magnetic tape for more than $2,300.
Another organization providing cost-effective access to
govemment data, particularly in the library science arena, is OCLC,
which is about to release Version 3.0 of its Search 450 software
package and has offered to give the SIGCAT membership a sneak
preview. The new software incorporates a new indexing design and so
many additional user features that this demonstration is a "must
see." Mary Marshall from OCLC's Electronic Publishing and
Information Delivery Division will provide the demonstration and
overview on the new release. Currently, there are 15 databases
available under the Search 450 software, of which 4 are from the
U.S. Geological Survey and 2 from the National Technical
Information Service. Perhaps your agency or organization has a
database that OCLC would consider publishing on CD-ROM. The
January SIGCAT will provide an opportunity to explore such a
possibility.
One of the exciting things about the CD-ROM industry is the
constant innovation in associated software products. Helping to
maintain this trend are the folks from Execufile Technologies, who
have just released an enhanced version of their text retrieval
product known as SearchExpress. In addition to a full complement
of state-of-the-art capabilities, SearchExpress is able to
quickly search up to one million objects, an object being either
a text document or an image. Once similar objects are found, they
can be dynamically
linkedtogetherviaSearchExpress'shypertextcapabilityfor later recall
with a single keystroke. If that isn't enough, SearchExpress
incorporates artificial intelligence techniques in searching for
similar objects as well as in ranking them in order of similarity.
Other features such as userdefined pull-down menus, notepads, and
a concordance round out the package. Sharon Faile, Vice President
of Marketing from Executive Technologies will give us an overview
on the product and demonstrate many of its powerful capabilities.
When organizations begin moving into large-scale CDROM
production, it's time to place some emphasis on orther aspect of disc
production that is often overlooked -- quality control. The
production of master and replicate discs is an extremely complex and
precise operation. However, there are many places in the production
process where the mastering facility can cut corners if customer
specifications are not sufficiently well defined. The highly
competitive nature of the industry only exacerbates the situation.
The results of a 'sloppy run' of discs can cause everything from
sluggish disc performance (the hardware and software spend inor-
dinate amounts of time in error detection and correction) to the
inability to read the disc. What's a body to do? Well, for openers,
drop by the January SIGCAT meeting. Jack Ryan from Discovery
Systems will be on hand to discuss the quality control issues
associated with the production of CDROM discs and how these issues
relate to the error detection and correction capabilities of the
technology.
Finally, two administrative items. First, a new working group
is now forming consisting of all of those Federal agencies that are
involved with (or intend to become involved with) the application
and use of CD-ROM premastering workstations. At least four companies
now provide these types of devices, and a dozen or more are now
installed throughout the Federal community. The purpose of the
"Workstation Working Group' is to share detailed operational
knowledge and technical tidbits conceming these devices and to
provide an informal support network of people actually using this
technology. If you're interested in being involved in the new
working group, let me know by phone or at the January meeting.
The second item concerns the bulletin board available to
SIGCAT members. We've had a BBS up and running for several months
now, and we'll be placing more and more CD-ROM related software
items on it for download by SIGCAT members. The phone number of
the BBS is (703)-6484168 or (FrS)-959-4168. Once you're on the
BBS, join the CD-ROM conference (No. 3) for further information.
Please feel free to try the system, and let me know of anything that
would be useful to add.
Images from the Viking Mars probe are also being planned.
The National Space Science Center will be the distribution center for all
NASA CD-ROM products.
In order to distribute the amount of data that NASA is mandated
to do, standards and tools are necessary. The standards have been
prepared and published as Standards for Preparation and Interchange
of Scientific Data (SPIDS). This is a design document for a
generic, structured, scientific information catalog. Through it,
JPL hopes to get some consistency in the description of data from
all sectors of govemment. They hope to get NASA and others to adopt
CD-ROM for the archiving of data from planetary projects. JPL
expects to convert all of the planetary science data to CD-ROM disc
by 1992.
The other tool is data compression. For the planetary image
data, JPL will use pixel differencing combined with Huffman
coding. The source code for the compression software will be placed
on the SIGCAT bulletin board system for others to use. For more
information on the planetary science archives, call Mr. Michael
Martin at JPL; telephone (818)354-8751. Thephone
number for the SIGCAT BBS is (703) 648-4168.
6. Congressional Information Services, Inc.
The next speaker, Mark Vonderhaar, described the CDROM
offerings of the Congressional Information Services (CIS) Inc.
Their disc is currently in Beta-site evaluation. Known as the
CIS CONGRESSIONAL MASTERFILE, it divided into four files that
contain approximatcly 400,000 bibliographic records of
congressional committee hearings, committee reports and documents,
staff background reports, and unpublished Senate committee
hearings. These documents span the whole of United States history
from 1789 to 1969.
The product development effort started with a search for a
suitable vendor. Quantum Access, Inc. of Houston, Texas was selected
because: a) the uniqueness of CIS's requirements mandated that the
retrieval software be modifiable, b) Quantum Access was willing to
make their source code available, and c) they provided good user
support. The CIS data base was originally in a magnetic tape format
containing print codes. It had to be thoroughly prepared on a
mainframe computer before loading on to a CD Publisher for the
premastering process. After premastering, the CDROM image was
shipped to the Digital Audio Disc Corporation (DADC) in Terre
Hatite, Indiana for disc mastering and replication. For further
information on CONGRESSIONAL MASTERFILE, call Mr. Mark Vonderhaar,
Product Development Manager, CIS at (301) 654-1550. For information
about Quantum Access, Inc., call Mr. Joseph Sturdevant, Vice
President, Sales at (713) 622-321 1.
7. National Information Services Corporation (NISC)
The last two speakers of the day spoke about exciting new
technological developments related to CD-ROM. Mr. Fred Duff,
president of the National Informafion Services Corporafion, a new
software product called ROMWARE. ROMWARE was designed from the
start as CD-ROM retrieval software. ROMWARE will work on a floppy
disk based PC with not less than 360K bytes of memory and it will
work with both color and black-and-white monitors.
NISC is offering its premastering software free to government
agencies until January 4, 1989. This software supports a flexible
procedure-oriented language for authoring a CD-ROM disc image. It
also includes a procedural language for tutorials and help screens.
The purchase of a single retrieval package will allow the user to
run all govcmment CD-ROM products created with the authoring pack-
age. NISC will also customize ROMWARE for specialized
applications. The price of the retrieval package is $299 to Federal
agencies and $375 for non-govemment users. For commercial customers,
NISC provides a more traditional pricing approach.
Mr. Duff concluded his presentation with a demonstration of
ROMWARE on GEOINDEX, a highly structured data base from the
U.S.G.S. The retrieval program does fast Boolean searches on
indexes, can support complex Boolean searches, and can quickly
recalculate any Boolean search. ROMWARE includes both a menu-driven
and a command driven user interface. A report module can print
retrieved records or write them to a disc file. ROMWARE will also
work well with full-text data bases. For more information, call Mr.
Fred Durr at (301) 454-8039.
8. DynaBook, from Scenario, Inc.
Alan Kay, a computer visionary, conceived the idea of a
powerful yet portable computer with a huge amount of memory and a
humane user interface. This Dynabook would be connected to a
telecommunications network and would provide its user with an
easy-to-use reference tool. Scenario, Inc. of Sommerville, MA has
found the answer to the Dynabook concept in CD-ROM. They have built
their version of DynaBook around an Intel 80286 microprocessor,
an Hitachi 3500 half-height CD-ROM drive, and an LCD display and
touch screen. DynaBook uses the latest in LCD display technology
called double super-twist on a 720 by 400 pixel screen. Surface
acoustic wave technology provides the latest, and most precise,
touch screen available. Surface acousfic waves can read pressure
as well as location, and can be programmed to solve a host of
interface problems such as ignoring dirt and fingerprints.
Dan Winer, who introduced DynaBook to the SIGCAT membership,
emphasized that this was a "first generation" product. The 5.25
inch CD-ROM drive used took up too much space. A three inch CD-ROM
would be much more portable. The touch screen replaces the keyboard
on a conventional PC. Like a keyboard, it can be separated from the
chassis. DynaBook comes with a 3.5 inch floppy disc drive. A 20
megabyte hard disk and a keyboard are optional extras. At sixteen
pounds, DynaBook is an armful to carry. It also requires either
110 volt AC current or 12 volt DC to operate. The retail price of
DynaBook is $5,000, but it is available in quantity to value-added
resellers for as low as $2,800.
DynaBook is designed for bundled applications. Scenario, Inc.
is looking for customers who want to incorporate their CD-ROM disc
into the DynaBook format. Potential users would be corporations who
need to make large files of information, in a portable format,
available to employees such as salesmen and equipment maintenance
technicians. For more information on DynaBook, call Ms Judith
Bolger, Vice President, Business Devclopment, Scenario, Inc.,
telephone (617) 625-1818.
CORRECTION - PLEASE NOTE:
In the SIGCAT Recap for the September '88 meeting, it was
stated that one of the products (the Microsoft Programmer's Library)
presented by Online Computer Systems, Inc. "carried the stamp of
Online's unique user interface" and that the product was developed
"in association with Microsoft Corporation." In fact, the
Programmer's Library is a Microsoft CD-ROM product, and while Online
Computer Systems is a VAR for this product, they were in no way
involved in its development. The user interface is the Microsoft
proprietary Library interface, developed by Microsoft and used in
Microsoft Bookshelf, Stat Pack, and Small Business Consultant, as
well as Programmer's Library.
Philip A. Turner
Senior Systems Analyst, BSU
Library of Congress