Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!uwm.edu!ogicse!zephyr.ens.tek.com!tekgen!robertj From: robertj@tekgen.BV.TEK.COM (Robert Jaquiss) Newsgroups: comp.ivideodisc Subject: SIGCAT (Special Interest Group on CD-ROM Applications and Technology) MEETING Summary: If you can't make the meeting there is valuable information here. Keywords: CD-ROM Message-ID: <6834@tekgen.BV.TEK.COM> Date: 2 Nov 90 15:40:44 GMT Reply-To: robertj@tekgen.BV.TEK.COM (Robert Jaquiss) Organization: Tektronix, Inc., Beaverton, OR. Lines: 359 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