The CD–ROM Alternative

In reading about telecommunications it is hard to keep from getting excited. However, it would be incorrect to conclude that all your information needs can be satisfied online. Online services are best at providing small quantities of current information. However, there are times when you will be interested in large quantities of information or historical data. This is where CD-ROM excels. 

Since 1987, people have been touting CD-ROM, but only in the last year has the price of CD–ROMs come down far enough to convince many individuals and libraries to purchase players and CDs. The odds are good that CD-ROM technology will be coming to a library near you in the future, if it is not already there. 

Since CD-ROM has become such an important competitor to telecommunications technology, it would be negligent of me not to warn you about types of information searching activities that are more amenable to use of CDs. In the chapters that follow, I will point out when you will save time and money by utilizing CD-ROM technology instead of your modem. 

Telecommunications versus CD–ROM

In order to understand whether your question is appropriate for communications techniques, or by CD-ROM, ask yourself: How much data am I looking for? How recent is the data?  

The figure above illustrates where various information access alternatives lie along the dimensions of Quantity and Timeliness of data. Large amounts of historical data are usually accessed most inexpensively on CD–ROM. On the other hand, small quantities of up to the minute information are best obtained on specialized online services. General online services offer access to moderate amounts of data of moderate currency. 

Question: How has IBM stock performed over the last 20 years? 
Answer: CD-ROM

Question: What was IBM stock trading at yesterday?
Answer: General purpose online service or newspaper.

Question: What is IBM stock trading at now?
Answer: quotation service, radio terminal, or specialized information service

Accessing CD–ROMs

One of the best ways to access CD–ROMs is through a corporate or university library. University library privileges are usually only available to alumni, students, faculty, or staff. However, if you can get access you will find that university libraries now often carry periodical, financial, and statistical databases on CD–ROM. If you are eligible for borrowing privileges (possibly through payment of fees), you will find this much more economical than purchasing your own player and CD–ROMs.

CD–ROM Resources

The CD-ROM market is currently in an explosive growth phase. This means that even if we had the space to include a comprehensive list of available CD–ROMs, it would be dated within a week. Instead, here’s a list of some of the leading products for business or professional use, as well as a list of CD-ROM catalogs which will tell you about hundreds of other CD–ROMs. 

Disclosure Corporate Snapshots
              $995

This database is a complete source of financial information on publicly traded U.S. corporations. It includes two years of balance sheets and income statements; a five year summary of sales, net income, and earnings per share; holdings of institutions and corporate officers; text of the annual reports, including footnotes;and  listings of subsidiaries. This CD can be searched by many criteria, including SIC code, ticker symbol or corporate name. Updates are available annually. For PC or Macintosh.

Bureau of Electronic Publishing, 141 New Road, Parsippany, NJ 07054; (800)828-4766, technical support: (201)808-2700. 

Great Literature Personal Library          
$99

Although you can obtain several of the works on this CD–ROM over the Internet, if you want more than a few of them, you can probably obtain them more quickly and cheaply by purchasing this CD–ROM.  The Personal Library includes the full text of 943 books, including 70 works by Shakespeare, Dante’s Divine Comedy, Aesop’s fables, works by Byron, Bacon, Lewis Caroll, Cervantes, Confucius, Dickens, Homer, Moliere, Plato, Plutarch, Poe, Sophocles, Thoreau, Virgil, Voltaire, Whitman, and Wordsworth. Available for PC or Mac.

Bureau of Electronic Publishing, 141 New Road, Parsippany, NJ 07054; (800)828-4766, technical support: (201)808-2700. 

Phoenix–CD
                                                         $69

A complete library of more than 655 Mb of files for the IBM PC, all compressed with PKZIP, and checked for viruses. 

Bureau of Electronic Publishing, 141 New Road, Parsippany, NJ 07054; (800)828-4766, technical support: (201)808-2700. 

PhoneDisc USA
                                                  $1,850
Quaterly update                                                
$400

A listing of 90 million U.S. names, addresses and phone numbers. Can be searched by name, zip code, state, city, or street. For IBM PC only.  

PhoneDisc USA Corporation, 30 Doaks Lane, P.O. Box 648, Marblehead, MA 01945-0648; (617)639-2900; Fax: (617)639-2980. 

Bureau of Electronic Publishing, 141 New Road, Parsippany, NJ 07054; (800)828-4766, technical support: (201)808-2700. 

National Directory
                                          $69

A listing of 120,000 U.S. businesses, with addresses, and telephone, fax, and telex numbers. For Macintosh.

Bureau of Electronic Publishing, 141 New Road, Parsippany, NJ 07054; (800)828-4766, technical support: (201)808-2700. 
 
Library of Congress database
                     $1200

Contains more than 4 million bibliographic records for books, maps, music, serials, visual materials, and computer files cataloged by the Library of Congress from 1968 on. LAN license included.

Library of Congress, Customer Services Section, Cataloging Distribution Service, Washington, DC 20541-5017; (800)255-3666, (212)707-6100, Fax:(202)707-1334. 
 
ERIC database
                                                    $650

Bibliographic database covering published literature in education, from 1966 onwards.
Available for Macintosh and PC. 

ERIC Clearinghouse on Information Resrouces, Syracuse University School of Education, 030 Huntington Hall, Syracuse, New York, 13244-2340, (315)443-3640, email:  ERIC@SUVM.ACS.SYR.EDU

CBIS Federal, 7420 Fullertin Road, Suite 110, Springfield, Virginia 22153-2852; (703)440-1440; (800)443-ERIC, Fax: (703)440-1408. 

Dialog Information Services, 3460 Hillview Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94303;  (800)334-2564, (415)858-3785, Fax: (415)858-7069. 

US Census 1990

The 1990 U.S. Census is available on CD–ROM, as is the TIGER map database, covering the entire U.S. This material is also available online via CompuServe and DIALOG.

Customer Services, Census Bureau, Washington, DC 20233, (301)763-2074. 

Census Bureau Electronic Bulletin Board, U.S. Bureau of the Census, Data User Services Division, Washington, DC 20233, (301)763-1580

Center for Electronic Data Analysis, University of Tennessee, 316 Stokley Management Center, Department of Marketing, Logistics, and Transportation, Knoxville, TN 37996, (615)974-5311. 

Catalogs

CD-ROM Handbook

The most complete CD–ROM catalog I’ve seen, covering products from more than 150 vendors. Includes CD–ROMs for libraries, business, science, education and recreation. 189 pages. 

EBSCO Subscription services, P.O. Box 325, Topsfield, Massachusetts 01983; (508)887-6667, Fax: (508)887-3923.  

Dialog Database Catalog

A catalog of databases available on the Dialog online service, many of which are now on CD–ROM via Dialog ONDISC. 

Dialog Information Services, 3460 Hillview Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94303;  (800)334-2564, (415)858-3785, Fax: (415)858-7069. 

Directory of CD–ROM Databases

A catalog of CD–ROMs related to International Business, Social Sciences, Health Sciences, Health & Safety, and Food & Agriculture.  

SilverPlatter Information, Inc., 100 River Ridge Dirve, Norwood, MA 02062-5026, (617)769-2599, (800)343-0064, Fax: (617)769-8763. 

Educational Resource Guide

Oriented towards educators; a catalog of teaching tools in many media: videos, films, videodiscs, software, and CD–ROMs. 

Modern, 5000 Park Street North, St. Petersburg, FL 33709; (800)243-6877, Fax: (813)546-9323.