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Abstract

In an earlier article, Tony McSean and Derek Law suggested that CD- ROM is a transient technology likely to be supplanted. This article re- examines the authors' hypothesis in light of subsequent developments. Compares CD-ROM with online information retrieval, suggesting that the poorer currency of CD-ROM may be solved by providing complemen tary online and CD-ROM services. Discusses the provision of parallel printed, online and CD-ROM ver sions, networking issues, and the impact of CD-ROM on printed prod ucts. McSean and Law failed to pre dict the revolution in personal computers and to appreciate the effect of networking capabilities. The per ceived problem of CD-ROM disc capacity and low retrieval speeds still remain problems for very large data bases. Considers current applications of CD-ROM for enabling electronic libraries and for document and data base delivery, particularly over net works such as JANET. Concludes that McSean and Law's assertion that CD- ROM is a transient technology has proved to be quite correct in that all information technology has proved to be transient. However, CD-ROM has proved a useful and attractive technology, offering an alternative to online databases which is much more user friendly, and, depending upon sufficient volume of end-user use, more economical than online.

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The transiency of CD-ROM? A reappraisal for the 1990s

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