🚀 go-pugleaf

     I read the following material with an OCr  machine.   I
have corrected some misread words.  I apologize for any mis-
takes.

        Robert S. Jaquiss Jr.
        Internet: robertj@tekgen.bv.tek.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------
     Special Interest Group on CD-ROM Applications& Technology

                    November 8,1990 Meeting

     Hello once again from SIGCAT.  September was a bit hectic with SIGCAT
participating in back-to-back computer conferences in Washington, D.C. October
started off in a state of budget confusion, which made for an interesting trip to
the CD-ROM Expo in Boston, where I learned a lesson: never stay in a hotel right
next to Fenway Park during a pennant playoff, no matter how reasonable the rate!
We're now getting ready for next SIGCAT meeting which will be held again in
Washington, D.C., on November 8, 1990.  But before discussing the particulars of
that meeting, I thought I'd take a minute and bring everyone up to date on SIGCAT
as an organization.

     SIGCAT is now the world's largest CD-ROM user group.  Its almost 4,000
members from all parts of the globe constitute a network of people from all walks
of life who share a vision that CD-ROM will somehow profoundly change the way in
which they deal with information.  For many members, this vision has already come
true.  CD-ROM has revolutionized the information dissemination activities of
dozens of agencies in the U.S. Government as well as of many organizations in the
private sector.  It's appropriate, therefore, that one of the primary purposes of
SIGCAT should continue to be getting the word out about these "success stories"
so that other agencies and organizations, both here and abroad, can benefit and
learn by example.

     In an effort to extend the word on CD-ROM even farther, I am proud to
announce that SIGCAT has been voted in as a member council of the Federation of
Government Information Processing Councils (FGIPC).  This worldwide network of
user groups has worked long and hard over the past 11 years to enlighten users in
the Federal sector about the benefits of using the latest information resource
management technologies.  The primary objective of FGIPC is to "enhance the
four-way channel of communications between managers/users of information
technology, government agencies regulating use of those technologies, industry,
and academia." FGIPC provides many valuable services to agencies, including the
publication of FEDFACTS and sponsorship of many regional conferences.  I'm
confident that the association of SIGCAT and FGIPC will be a synergistic one that
will extend the understanding and application of state-of-the-art information
management technologies such as CD-ROM.

     Another function of SIGCAT is to provide information and expertise on various
focused areas of CD-ROM technology and applications through working groups and
committees.  Included with this mailing is an updated SIGCAT Fact Sheet listing
these SIGCAT "spinoff organizations" and their corresponding areas of interest. 
Each group is independently chaired and serves as a point of reference and source
of information for those interested in that aspect of CD-ROM.  The November
meeting will focus on the working groups and provide updates from several of the
chairs.  More on this later.

     Perhaps the main raison d'etre for SIGCAT lies in the simple fact that to
effectively use any new technology, you must first understand that technology. 
Such an understanding typically comes from two main resources: print and people. 
The "print" is typically the various periodicals, books, and other literature
(including glossy brochures) that contain information on the myriad topics related
to CDROM.  The "people" are the peer networks and industry professionals who share
their experiences and information either on a one-to-one basis or across a podium. 
SIGCAT addresses the latter resource by helping to facilitate these peer networks
and by providing a forum through which people are able to interact and share
experiences on new CD-ROM applications and emerging CD-ROM technologies.

     Judging by the feedback I get, SIGCAT serves a useful purpose.  However, its
growth has reached the point where some additional organizational assistance is
needed.  SIGCAT has grown beyond the point where it can be run as a "one-man show"
(my wife will attest to this).  If SIGCAT is to continue to grow and serve an
expanding network of CDROM enthusiasts, we need a few more people behind the
scenes.  Therefore, a call is going out to the SIGCAT membership for volunteers
to assist in the following areas:

     Meeting Secretary - This person will attend the full SIGCAT meetings (working
groups usually have their own secretaries) and take the minutes, which will be
published in the next SIGCAT Recap.

     Newsletter Editor - This person win coordinate all input to the SIGCAT
Newsletter, including such things as the meeting agenda, working group updates,
and other segments as they evolve.  Of course, electronic input

and desktop publishing help to minimize the logistical burdens of this function.

     Program Coordinator - This person will develop programs and themes for future
SIGCAT meetings, including recommendations for potential speakers.

     Publicity Coordinator - This person will make sure that the word about SIGCAT
(notice of meetings, working groups, etc.) gets out to the world.  Many
publications and periodicals would gladly carry notices of SIGCAT meetings if they
were made aware of them.

     Bulletin Board Coordinator - This person will manage all aspects of the
SIGCAT Bulletin Board System.  This communications medium can provide the
membership with many useful things in machine-readable form such as copies of the
newsletters, CD-ROM standards, and various software routines.  In addition, the
BBS can also support a very useful forum for questions (and, hopefully, answers)
relating to CD-ROM technology.

     There are undoubtedly additional functions that will evolve as SIGCAT
continues to grow, but the above list needs immediate attention.  If you believe
in SIGCAT and think it performs a useful purpose, please consider getting a little
more involved.  A call to me on (703) 648-7126 or a letter (U.S. Geological
Survey, 904 National Center, Reston, VA 22092) will get you started.


                      Next SIGCAT Meeting

     The next meeting of SIGCAT will take place on Thursday, November 8, 1990 in
conjunction with the ONLINE/CD-ROM Conference and Exposition.  The conference
itself will be held November 5 to 7 at the Washington Hilton and Towers, 1919
Connecticut Avenue, Washington, D.C. SIGCAT will be part of the post-conference
sessions and will be located in the Hilton's Thoroughbred Room on the Concourse
Level beginning at 9:00 a.m. I think it is significant that this 12-year-old con-
ference (formerly called just the ONLINE Conference) has now changed its name to
reflect the exploding interest in CD-ROM technology.  As such, the conference
(including the extensive pre- and post-conference workshops) is permeated with a
wide-ranging series of in-depth CD-ROM sessions.  Novices and seasoned CD-ROMers
alike should definitely make time to attend this event (including, of course, the
SIGCAT meeting).

     In addition to the standard cross section of CD-ROM applications and
technology, the November SIGCAT meeting wig give the various working groups a
chance to update the membership on the latest developments in these focused areas. 
First off, we've scheduled a series of brief updates from Susan David, Chair of
SIGLIT; Sheldon Fisher, Chair of SIGACE; and Larry Schanldn, Chair of the Common

produce Mike Rubinfeld, who will be taking over the Chair of the ISO 9660 Working
Group from Barbara Rose, who is talking a well-deserved break from her duties at
the Army Engineer Topo Labs.  Barbara was instrumental in establishing this
working group and for focusing the efforts of many people who are concerned with
the ISO 9660 standard and how it can be used to expand the effective use of CD-ROM
on even more computing platforms.  Barbara is to be congratulated for her fine job
in focusing this working group in its formative stages, and we wish her well in
her new pursuits.

     In welcoming Mike Rubinfeld as the new Chair of the ISO 9660 working group,
I thought it appropriate to provide a little background on Mike's involvement with
CD-ROM and related standards activities at his place of employment, the National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).


     NIST is developing an architecture for CD-ROM technology.  In his position
as a computer scientist, Mike is the lead engineer developing this architecture. 
He is a member of the Office Systems Engineering Group in the Systems and Software
Technology Division of the National Computer Systems Laboratory (NCSL) within
NIST.  The CDROM architecture that Mike is developing will lead to a family of
Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) for the logical format structure
for CD-ROM technology.

     As an initial phase of this assignment, NIST will make a thorough review of
all standards work that has been completed to date, especially that pertaining to
the ISO 9660 Standards activities.  NIST will also conduct analysis of 9660
extensions relating to Open Systems Environments.  A NIST report, based on this
analysis, scheduled for a January 1991 deadline, will include recommendations for
guidelines pertaining to the FE?S and will emphasize the development of an
architectural framework for both the DOS and the Open Systems environments.  This
framework will identify areas for physical and logical encoding structures,
indexing architectures, and any special considerations relating to the storage of
textual data, imaging data, and interleaved audio.  The report will further
identify all interfaces associated with the CD-ROM architecture.

     Mike and his group will develop specific guidelines for the Open Systems
environment, taking into consideration the work that has been accomplished by both
the POSIX and the GOS II? groups.  To enhance this effort, Mike has agreed to act
as Chair for the ISO 9660 Working Group of SIGCAT as a means of opening
communication channels for gathering information from the CD-ROM community. 
Results and recommendations obtained from CD-ROM working groups such as the one
sponsored by SIGCAT will be included and made part of any guidelines or
recommendations produced at NIST.

     The ultimate success of this project is directly contingent upon a positive
spirit of cooperation and a very active communication within the CD-ROM community. 
SIGCAT win do everything it can to foster this spirit of cooperation and
communication.  Welcome aboard, Mike!

     Following the updates from the SIGCAT working groups, we have several
presentations on new CD-ROM applications emerging from the Federal sector.  First,
the Forest Service (par L of the Department of Agriculture) is about to release
its first CD-ROM product.  Dale Petersen, a civil engineer with the Forest
Service, will be joined by Steve Oxman, president of the OXKO Corporation
(contractors for producing the disc) to describe and demonstrate a very
sophisticated CD-ROM disc.  Not only will it contain conventional textual data
(parts of the Forest Service Handbook, Road and Bridge specifications, etc.), but
this disc will also provide 35-mm slide images, animations, and thousands of
AutoCAD and TontoCAD drawings, complete with an on-disc viewer utility.  As you
can imagine, this project has been quite an ambitious undertaking, and Steve will
relate many of the "behind-the-scenes" considerations and tradeoffs that went into
the production of this disc.

     The Social Security Administration (SSA) is one of the branches of the
Federal Government that touches just about all of us.  The regulations that govern
how the benefits of the SSA are dispensed are both voluminous and in great demand
by many people.  What does that suggest? CD-ROM, of course.  Rapid and precise
access to all of the latest SSA regulations is something that can immensely
benefit both the private and the public sectors.  The SS A recognized this fact
and has produced its first CD-ROM disc.  This disc is intriguing not only for the
benefits alluded to above but also for the fact that SSA is talking advantage of
multimedia to enhance the actual use of the product.  Reds Hof focks, a
microcomputer analyst for the SSA, is the mastermind behind this innovative disc
and will be on hand to discuss its development and how multimedia techniques such
as sound and motion bring this disc to life.  Reds' presentation is guaranteed to
be both enlightening and entertaining.

     The afternoon portion of the November SIGCAT meeting will lead off with
representatives from one of the true pioneers in the field of optical storage --
the 3M Corporation.  Dick Pendill, senior account representative for CDROM, and
Mark Arps, marketing and sales manager, will combine forces to convey some
fundamental but extremely important information about CD-ROM.  Those of you new
to the technology will benefit from an overview on the entire optical storage
spectrum, including Videodisk, WORM, Erasable, and, of course, CD-ROM.  There is
still a lot of confusion about the various types of optical technologies and the
types of applications to which they are best suited.  Dick will try to eliminate
some of this confusion and better define the optical spectrum from an applications
perspective.  Nftk will then continue the educational process by elaborating on
how erasable optical media and CD-ROM work to ether help as an application
development

platform and as an input medium for CD-ROM mastering and replication.  Mark will
also provide an overview on statistical process control, which is the technique
used by 3M to ensure a high level of quality control in the disc manufacturing
process.  Finally, those individuals or organizations interested in placing
classified materials on CDROM will hear how 3M provides one of the few "cleared"
facilities in the country for supporting these types of applications.  As an added
bonus, 3M will be showing a videodisk which provides a fascinating "tour" of their
optical production facilities.

     One of the functions of SIGCAT is to provide a glimpse of innovative new
CD-ROM products coming into the marketplace.  The November meeting highlights
three such products.  The first disc is very timely in light of the upcoming
November elections and, appropriately enough, is known as the Registered Voter
Disc.  Actually, this product consists of a- series of discs (one for each State);
Maryland, Illinois, Kentucky, Alaska, and Iowa are currently available.  Paul
Murphy, president of Eagle Eye Publishers, Inc., will describe and demonstrate
this new series of products, which contain the complete listings on all registered
voters in a particular State, including key demographic and voter history data. 
The discs are finding a whole host of applications in the election and
special-issue campaigns as well as in those things that are fundamental to our
democratic processes such as voter canvassing and jury selection.  Since you may
actually be on one of these discs, you might take the opportunity to verify that
they've got your correct political profile.  I'm sure Paul will welcome your
interest and try to accommodate all of your queries.  Fortunately for Paul, his
discs use one of the fastest retrieval engines in the industry from the Dataware
Corporation.

     After you've verified your voter profile, you may want to try your luck at
locating your long-lost Uncle Harry.  The next product presentation at the SIGCAT
meeting allows you to do just that.  Known as PhoneDisc USA, this incredible
two-disc set contains over 90 million listings of names, addresses, and telephone
numbers! It can be searched by name or name in combination with the street, city,
State, zipcode, or telephone number.  If you can believe it, this disc contains
the equivalent information from over 5,000 printed directories, which together
would weigh some 60,000 pounds and consume about 50 trees.  Imagine searching all
of the white pages in the entire United States in seconds.  In fact, that's
exactly what you'll see when Claude Schoch, principal in the PhoneDisc USA
Corporation, demonstrates this remarkable achievement and describes some of the
breakthroughs in data compression technology that enabled this product to be
developed.

     The final product presentation comes to us from the Bureau of Electronic
Publishing (no, it's not a government agency--it's just a very clever private
corporation).  The Bureau, as they like to be known, is now one of the largest and
most successful retailers of CD-ROM products in the country, stocking several
hundred CD-ROM titles and just

about every available CD-ROM drive.  Their chief executive officer, Larry Shiller,
will be on hand to describe the Bureau's first internally produced product called
the L& History on CD-ROM.  This comprehensive disc provides detailed coverage from
over 100 historical books and documents on the political, aerospace, geographic,
social, military, and economic history of our country.  In addition, the disc
contains over 1,000 VGA-quality photographs, maps, and tables relating to
historical events.  Larry will also discuss some of the strategic decisions and
tradeoffs that went into producing this disc, such as market analysis, data
conversion, data preparation, target computer platforms, and retrieval software. 
For a fascinating tour of American history via CD-ROM as well as some valuable
insight into the development of such a disc, make sure you catch Larry's
presentation.  As an added benefit, Larry will be handing out the latest edition
of the Bureau's CD-ROM Product Guide, which continues to be one of the industry's
most informative and useful resources on available CD-ROM titles and technology.

     That about rounds out the November meeting, except for one other thing.  As
you know, I have been harping for years about the high price of CD-ROM drives. 
After all, they're technologically similar to audio drives, which were designed
to be produced on a mass-production, low-cost basis.  Indeed, CD audio drives can
be purchased quite readily for under $ 1 00.  Even adding in another couple of
hundred dollars to account for the differences between CD audio and CD-ROM (chip
sets, enhanced pickup head, controller card, cable, etc.), the price of drives
ought to be in the $300 to $400 range.  Well, our ship may be on its way in.  I
expect to have some dramatic announcements concerning the prices of CD-ROM drives
at the close of the November 8 SIGCAT meeting.  If you're in the market for
drives, I strongly urge you to drop by.  As always, for questions, I can be
reached at (703)-648-7126 or FIS -959-7126.



                                  EJ. (jerry) McFaul
             Computer Scientist, U.S. Geological Survey

   SIGCAT - November 8,1990 - AGENDA

9:00 a.m.- 9:15 a.m.
Opening Remarks

9:15 a.m.- 9:35 a.m.
Susan David, Chair - SIGLIT
Library of Congress - (202) 707-7169

9:35 a.m.- 9:50 a.m.
Sheldon Fisher, Chair - SIGACE
Department of Education - (202) 357-6699

9:50 a.m.- 10:10 a.m.
Larry Schankin, Chair - Common Index Working Group
U.S. Air Force - (617) 377-2105

10:10 a.m.- 10:30 a.m.
Mike Rubinfeld, Chair - ISO 9660 Working Group
Nat'l Institute of Standards and Technology - (301) 975-3064

10:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m.
Morning Coffee Break

10:45 a.m.- 11:30 a.m.
Dale Petersen, Civil Engineer U.S. Forest Service - (202) 453-9398 Steve Oxman,
President
OXKO Corporation - (301) 266-1671

11:30 a.m.- 12:00 p.m.
Reds Hoffocks, MicroconWuterAnalyst
Social Security Administration - (301) 965-5820

12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Lunch Break

1:00 p.m. - 1:45 p.m.
Dick PendiH, Senior Account Representative, CD -ROM
3M Corporation - (612) 736-5399

Mark Arps, Marketing and Sales Manager for CD-ROM
3M Corporation - (612) 736-3274

1:45 p.m. - 2:15 p.m.
Paul Murphy, President
Eagle Eye Publishers, Inc. - (703) 687-6777

2:15 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Afternoon Refreshment Break

2:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Claude Schoch, Principal
PhoneDisc USA Corporation - (800) 284-8353

3:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Larry Shiller, Chief Executive Officer
Bureau of Electronic Publishing, Inc. - (201) 808-2700

3:30 p.m. Adjournment