🚀 go-pugleaf

     I know the meeting is long past but there is useful information hre.
     I head the following material with an OCr  machine.   I
have corrected some misread words.  I apologize for any mis-
takes.

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

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

August 30,1989 Moding

     Welcome to Washington's summer doldrums.
To help bring you oust of them and into the Augut SIGCAT
meeting, we're offering a little incentive beyond that nor-
mally provided by our agenda. Each attendee at this month's
meeting will receive a copy (please, only one per attendee)
of the CD-ROM disc that resulted from the recent GRIPS
'89 meeting. In case you missed it, this seminar was held
last month to put together some of the country's best
government-developed image-processing software running
in both the PC and Mac environments. The latest versions
of these packages, together with hundreds of megabytes of
actual image data, were placed on a CD-ROM that by vir-
tue of the ISO 9660 format, are not only accessible but also
executable from both computing platforms. Meridian Data
and Philips Dupont Optical (PDO) cosponsored the project,
and the resulting disc should be very useful to those wish-
ing to explore state-of-the-art raster image processing on a
personal computer.

     Until the price of CD-ROM drives drops a bit more (al-
though this situation may be right around the corner--see the
SIGCAT Recap for the June 28,1989 meeting) or until some
of the commercial CD-ROM products provide more attrac-
tive quantity discounts, there will be a continuing need for
accessing a CD-ROM drive over a local area network.
Several companies have developed technologies for doing
that and this month's SIGCAT Technology Tutorial will
focus on the options currently available in the marketplace.
On hand to present an overview of the characteristics, con-
siderations and pricing of networked CD-ROM solutions
will be Martin Ennis, technical editor of the CD-ROM End-
User. Martin has hands-on exponence with many of the
products that he will be discussing and should provide a
wealth of practical information for those considering using
CD-ROM on networks.

     One of the exciting things about CD-ROM is how it can
significantly enhance projects and programs that deal with
large scientific databases. Such is the case with the Side-
&"g Airborne Radar (SLAR) program within the U. S.
Geological Survey. This activity roughly deals with in-
dividual image files typically ranging up to 150 megabytes
in size. Until discovering CD-ROM, the SLAR folks used
minicomputers and the wonderful world of nine-track tape
for their image processing and analysis. In addition, the
limitations inherent in photochemical processing often hid
suttle features in associated photographic output. Now, CD-
ROM allows the manipulation of multiple SLAR images on a


desktop PC. Clark Cramer, SLAR Program Analyst, will
provide some insight into how the use of CD-ROM has im-
proved access to and processing of valuable remotely sensed
information.

     CD-ROM industry periodicals continue to tell us that we
are rapidly moving in the direction of multimedia applica-
tions. Microsoft is apparently convinced of this trend and
has recently formed a new Multimedia Division to further
advance the technology. But the real proof of progress is in
the applications we're beginning to see emerge. CD-ROM
products are now delivering imagery that rivals the printed
page (see for yourself at this month's meeting). We're for-
tunate in having one of the more innovative developers in
the industry with us to discuss several new low-cost multi-
media CD-ROM products. In addition to demonstrating ap-
plications ranging from medical journals to the works of
Sherlock Holmes, Chris Kitze, president of CMC Research,
will announce several brand-new titles, including one that
might prove to be a very popular 'horizontal' product. Chris
will also discuss multimedia database design and prepara-
tion considerations, including 'notes from the field" anec-
dotes from CMC's experience in pioneering this area. His
perspective on the economic driving force behind electronic
publishing in the technical fields should be of interest to
anyone looking to develop the next generation of CD-ROM
applications. And finally, the "Kitze Crystal Ball" will make
a rare appearance to deliver its riot annual forecast of fu-
ture CD-ROM events.

     How would you find out how many Navy contracts in-
volve ceramics and communftdons, except antennas,
were being carried out in Virginia and California? Well, if
you had a disc called the Federal Prime Contracts on CD-
ROM, you could have that answer in a few seconds. The
Federal Government with approximately 400,000 prime
products every year to over 30,000 companies. The General
Services Administration (GSA) maintains a compilation of
each Federal agency's contractual dealings in the GSA's In-
dividual Comment Action Record database. Each record in
this database contains information on the contractor, pur-
chasing office, name of the work or service, place of per-
formance, type of business, contract competition, and
amount of obligation. An enterprising organization called
MSRS recognized the potential value of such records and
set about producing a CD-ROM disc containing this infor-
mation in a highly indexed form. The result was a disc that
allows users to locate all of the contract records for any
given product or service within a specified State, county, or
city. MSRS has developed a simple, 'get-to-the-facts" user
interface that supports context-sensitive help, pop-up win-
dows, and extremely flexible output data formats. Paul Mur-
phy, President of MSRS, will present the latest disc and, in
the process, relate yet another success story of how the
private sector is using CD-ROM technology to add value to
publicly available information.

     More and more organizations are realizing the benefits
of placing their technical documentation on CD-ROM. The
advent of affordable high-resolution monitors and as-
sociated video cards, along with the growing number of
retrieval packages that handle both text and imagery, now
allows many more applications to be considered for CD-
ROM. One such application is the massive technical
documentation produced by the U.S. Army Corps of En-
gineers for use by its engineers throughout the world. The
Corps recently decided to place some 17,000 pages of en-
gineering manuals, regulations, specifications, and other
textual and graphic material onto a two-disc CD-ROM set.
Ron Kercheval, chief of the Printing and Distribution
Management Branch, will provide an overview on this
project, which included converting those 17,000 pages of
material from paper into machine-readable form. The func-
tions of full-text inputing, image decompression, and dis-
play will be demonstrated by using concurrent windows--an
image can be viewed in one while text is scrolled in another.
Ron will also describe a related effort in which the Corps
has elected to store and distribute many of its forms on CD-
ROM. This effort is intended to produce significant cost
savings in the handling, printing, distributing, and storing of
large quantities of printed forms. The experience of the
Corps on this project should be watched very closely by the
entire Federal sector. After all, how many copies of the
Paperwork Reduction Act do we have to keep printing
before people begin to see the (Lua) light?

     As the Nation's factfinder, the Bureau of the Census
provides government, academia, private organizations, and
the general public with exhaustive statistical information
about subjects ranging from demographics to foreign trade.
The agency has always been directly involved in the dis-
txibution of its collected statistics and is a leader in the use
of electronic dissemination technologies. This past month,
the Bureau released its fourth CD-ROM disc, the 1988
County/City Data Book on CD-ROM. Two of its discs are
being distributed to the Federal Depository Libraries. In the
near future, the Bureau plans to release data from the 1987
Economic and Agricultural Censuses, and it is now a well-
known fact that they also plan to release the 1990 Decen-
nial Census on CD-ROM (perhaps 20 to 25 discs). In a
recent announcement, the Bureau made known its plans to
produce CD-ROM discs containing digital mapping infor-
mation. These discs will support the Topologically In-
tegrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing system and
will contain various map features such as streets, roads,
waterways, and power lines, as well as political and statis-


nationwide database is important to the many firms and
agencies that must maintain computer mapping capabilities
or geographic information systems. Updating the SIGCAT
audience on all of this activity will be Forrest Williams,
chief of the Systems Programming Branch at the Census
Bureau. Forrest will also be making an additional an-
nouncement that will further underscore the leadership role
of the Census Bureau as the first Federal statistical agency
to incorporate this significant new medium into major,
agency wide publication programs.

     When most industry pundits are asked about how many
commercially available CD-ROM titles there are "out
there," the response usually falls somewhere between 400
and 600. However, a statistic that is not so well known is the
number of titles that have been actually made to date. It turns
out that one mastering and replication facility--Digital
Audio Disc Corporation (DADC)--alone has produced over
1,300 CD-ROM titles. Although DADC is the largest CD
plant in the United States, this figure seems to indicate a
rather significant amount of "behind-the-scenes" CD-ROM
activity. Onhand to offer some insight into these figures as
well to as provide an overview (including a video tour) of
the vast DADC facility will be Cliff Brannon, Disc Produc-
tion Manager at DADC. Cliff will also discuss the success
that DADC is having with its recently instituted statistical
process control procedures, which help DADC maintain its
recognized high levels of quality assurance while produc-
ing over 8 million compact discs a month.

     One of the problems government agencies have had with
CD-ROM is that the information and associated indexes that
are placed on a disc are usually tied to proprietary vendor
software. This limitation makes it difficult to reuse the in-
formation with another application, another publishing
medium, or another computer and operating system. Ibis
situation exists even though there is a great deal of stand-
ardization in the CD-ROM industry. Some feel that what the
electronic publishigg industry lacks is an overall architec-
ture or frame of reference for publishing and delivery func-
tions. Consequently, the concept of an Open Electronic
Publishing Architecture (OEPA) has been proposed to help
put existing standards in perspective and target those func-
tions that still require standards development. Current
standards-related efforts like those of the CD-ROM XA
Development Group, the CALS committee, and the SIG-
CAT ISO 9660 Working Group all fall within the
framework of OEPA. Network Technology Corporation is
documenting the OEPA concept and acting as a clearin-
ghouse for information regarding OEPA. Amy Kovarick is
the Optical Publishing Manager for Network Technology
and the author of 'A Tutorial on the Open Electronic
Publishing Architecture.' She will provide an overview of
the OEPA and how it might help the CD-ROM industry
grow. Amy will also introduce Barbara Rose for an update
on the activities of the ISO 9660 Working Group.

If you're a Federal type and you have a CD-ROM project


growing questions about Federal CD-ROM activity, we are
now establishing a database in the U.S. Geological Survey
Library to keep us of this type of information in an or-
ganized manner. We plan to make this information public-
ly available in our library as well as through the various
SIGCAT channels.

     Parking is unrestricted as long as you use only the desig-
nated roadside areas. As always, the meeting will be held in
the main auditorium of the U.S. Geological Survey, 12201
Sunrise Valley Drive, Reston, Virginia. If you need direc-
tions, please call (703) 649-4452 for verbal instructions. I
once again invite you to use the Survey's revered cafeteria
facilities and help yourself to one of the few proven
remedies for the doldrums--frozen yogurt. For questions, I
can be reached at (703) 648-7126 or FIS 959-7126.


E. J. (Jerry) McFaul
Computer Scientis4 USGS

SIGCAT - August 30,1989 - AGENDA


9:30 am. - 10:30 a.m.
Mam Eruns, Technical Editor
CD-ROM EndUser Magazine - 703/237-0682

10:35 am. - 11:05 a.m.
Clark Cramer, SLAR Program Analyst
SLAR Program - U.S. Geological Survey - 703/648-5465

1 1: 10 am. - 11:40 a.m.
Chris Kitm, President
CMC Researck Inc. - 503/639-1796

11:45 am. - 12:15 p.m.
Paul Muorphy, President
MSRS, Iw. - 703/687-6777

12:15 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Lunch

1:00 p.m. - 1:30 p.m.
Ron KerchavaL Chief, Prbdng & Distr. Mgmt. Branch
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

1:35 p.m. - 2:OS p.m.
Dr. Forrest Williams, Chief, Branch of Sys. Programming
U.S. Census Bureau - 301fl634677

2: 10 p.m. - 2:40 p.m.
Ms. Amy Kovarick, Optical Publishing Manager
Network Technology, Inc. - 703/866-9000

2:45 p.m. - 3:15 p.m.
Mr. Chi Brannon, Disc Production Manager
Digitd Audio Disc Corporation (DADC) - 812/462-8286


-- Active SIGCAT Working Groups




SIGLIT

Special Interest Group on Library Information
Technology

     'This SIGCAT working group focuses on CD-ROM ap-
plications in the library and information sciences. SIGLIT
is very active and very often holds field trips to libraries in
the metropolitian area.

Contact: Susan David, Library of Congress-
(202) 707-7169.





SIGACE

     This SIGCAT working group was formed to examine,
review, and demonstrate CD-ROM discs appropriate for use
in training and education. SIGACE meets at the Technol-
ogy Resources Center which houses a variety of CD-ROM
discs and players.

Contact: Sheldon Fisher, Department of Education-
(202) 357-6699




ISO 9660

This SIGCAT workin group tracks the progress the ISO
9660 logical format standard as it is being implemented
across a wide variety of computing forms. Since this
standard is critical to the world-wide proliferation of CD-
ROM technology, the activities of this group are very im-
portant.

Contact: Barbara Rose, Army Corps of Engineers-
(202) 355-3029


SIGACE UPDATE

SIGCAT LAB MERGES WITH TECHNOLOGY RESOURCES CENTER




The Technology Resources Center at the U.S. Department of Education Research
Library is the one place in Washington to see what is new in educational
applications of technology and especially what is new in CD-ROM.

For the past several years it has been building a collection of hardware and
software to provide professional educators with demonstrations on the effective
use of technology. Visitors have come from all over the country, from every
level of education, and from over 30 different foreign countries.

During the past year, the Center has expanded its CD-ROM collection and can
demonstrate 21 educational discs in the MS/DOS mode and 10 on the Apple HFS
system.

This month, the Technology Resources Center will be absorbing hardware and
software from the SIGCAT CD-ROM Lab which has been located at the National
Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). Due to a reorganization within
the NIST, it became necessary to find a new "home" for the SIGCAT Lab.

With the addition of these discs and CD-ROM players, the Technology Resources
Center is expanding and will have CD-ROM units on two new IBM PS-2 systems, and
an Amiga 2000 in addition to CD ROM's already installed on a Apple IGS, Macintosh
IIx, Tandy 3000, and a complete Bibliofile Intelligent Catalog work station.

The Center plans to standardize on ISO 9660 discs and is seeking demonstration
copies of new products. Especially needed are materials useful in vocational
education, bilingual education, and English as a second language. The Center
also collects for distribution to visitors floppy disk samples of CD-ROM
programs, print materials, and general information pieces.

The Technology Resources Center is located in the Research Library of the U.S.
Department of Education at 80 F Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20208-5725. For
further information contact Sheldon Fisher at (202) 357-6699.