Presents an access method for temporal data called the Snapshot Index that reconstructs a past state of a time-evolving collection of objects. Previous approaches to temporal access methods are reviewed, and migrating data to write-once optical disks are discussed. (Author/LRW)

Describes a study that compared the "Video Source Book,""Variety's Complete Home Video Directory," and OCLC in order to judge their comprehensiveness, currency, uniqueness, and redundancy in cataloging videos. The strengths and weaknesses of each source are discussed and suggestions for further research into the bibliographic…

Discussion of the effects of CD-ROM journal indexes on interlibrary loan departments focuses on a study conducted at Moravian College that analyzed interlibrary loan requests for journal articles indexed in PsycLIT. Results indicate that appropriate bibliographic instruction can prevent an increase in interlibrary loan requests. (11 references)…

Discusses the problems of compressing a large textual database for storage on CD-ROM. A text-compression algorithm is presented, new algorithms for compression of indices are described, and the ARTFL (American and French Research on the Treasury of the French Language) database is used as an example. (14 references) (LRW)

Describes three applications of CD-ROM technology for publishing and distribution of U.S. Army forms and automation of the AD PAM 25-30, a microfiche index to the publications and forms. The production, field test, and evaluation phases of the project are discussed. Several lessons learned are summarized. (MES)

Describes compression methods for components of full-text systems such as text databases on CD-ROM. Topics discussed include storage media; structures for full-text retrieval, including indexes, inverted files, and bitmaps; compression tools; memory requirements during retrieval; and ranking and information retrieval. (Contains 53 references.)…

This digest describes the traditional, new, and emerging points of access to the ERIC system: (1) traditional print access; (2) online access through commercial vendors; (3) CD-ROM; and (4) ERIC Digests Online. Also described are services offered by the ERIC Clearinghouse on Information Resources (ERIC/IR) that provide access to the system--ERIC…

This cumulative index merges information on 8,372 reference books and CD-ROMs that appeared in ARBA (American Reference Books Annual) from 1995-99. The first section is an author/title index. Entries contain the author's name or title of the reference work with ARBA year and entry number. The second section is a subject index that uses terms based…

Intended to provide an alternative to typical lists of "best sources," this bibliography annotates general reference sources as well as those in areas of business, science, and technology; fine arts and literature; medicine and health; and social sciences and humanities. Sources include print, CD-ROM, and online formats. A reference book survey…

Discusses indexes for text databases and presents an efficient implementation of an index for text searching called PAT array, or suffix array, where the database is stored on secondary storage devices such as magnetic or optical disks. Additional hierarchical index structures and searching algorithms are proposed that improve searching time, and…

Reports results of a comparison of the Academic Index on CD-ROM and four indexes on the OPAC (online public access catalog) at Brooklyn College (New York): General Science Index, Humanities Index, Readers' Guide to Periodical Literature, and Social Science Index. Coverage of the "New York Times" was found to be important. (LRW)

Describes the "National Inventory of Documentary Sources in the United States" (NIDS-US), a microfiche resource of finding aids for manuscript collections and archives. Discusses its companion, NIDS-UK (United Kingdom), the NIDS CD-ROM index, and the development of ArchivesUSA, a CD-ROM which will combine NIDS, the National Union Catalog…

Relates how one teacher used a C-ROM encyclopedia, a concordancer, and a word processor to make concordances suitable for lower-level language learners. These concordances helped overcome the unfamiliarity of 80-character KWIC lines and the difficulties of obscure vocabulary, and were useful in the teaching of grammar and lexis. (Author/VWL)

Describes the CD-ROM version of the "Congressional Masterfile," a comprehensive index of congressional committee reports and prints, hearings, and documents from 1789 to the present. The description of this product includes hardware and software considerations, user aids, and search options. The Masterfile CD-ROM is compared to print…

Introduces the multicharacter trie as an index structure that can improve the time needed for retrieving full-text materials stored on CD-ROMs. The advantages of this structure compared to other structures are described, and experimental results comparing it to the widely used B+ tree and other structures used for full-text retrieval are…