From: robertj@tekgen.bv.tek.com (Robert Jaquiss)
Newsgroups: alt.cd-rom
Subject: SIGCAT MEETING MINUTES FOR MARCH AND APRIL
Date: 23 Jul 92 17:43:59 GMT
Organization: Tektronix, Inc.

Hello:

     I scanned this material in and proofed it, I hope.  

	Robert Jaquiss

Internet: robertj@tekgen.bv.tek.com
                             SIGCAT
                              RECAP

    Special Interest Group on CD-ROM Applications& Technology

     Notes from SIGCAT Meetings on March 9 and April 27,1992

     A preconference meeting of the Special Interest Group on CD-ROM Applications and Technology
(SIGCAT) was held at the San Francisco Hilton on March 9, 1992, in conjunction with Microsoft
Corporation's Intemational Conference and Exposition on Multimedia and CD-ROM.

     "SIGCAT is devoted to the investigation of CD-ROM technology and its myriad applications and
provides a forum for the exchange of ideas," explained SIGCAT founder E.J. (Jerry) McFaul.  "It is
a users' network."

     McFaul introduced representatives from seven of the working groups that fall under SIGCAT's
umbrella.  Most of these groups are currently grappling with identifying issues in their particular
interest areas.

          SIGTEAL - Special Interest Group To Expedite

                      the Accommodation Law

     In 1963, when Robert Jaquiss, Jr. was 10 years old, his father bought him the braille edition
of the World Book Encyclopedia.  It contained 145 volumes and covered 43 feet of shelf space.  "One
side of my room was very well insulated," said Jaquiss.  "But CD-ROM technology has changed this
situation dramatically."

     Jaquiss, a software engineer who was born blind, related this story in his capacity as co-chair
of the Special Interest Group to Expedite the Accommodation Laws (SIGTEAL).  The group's name refers
to the Americans With Disabilities Act.

     "CD-ROM technology offers blind people the possibility of accessing information in heretofore
undreamed-of quantities and varieties," he said.  But Jaquiss pointed out that the blind face
increasingly serious problems interacting with computers.  For example, Comptons, Groliers, and World
Book are now on CD-ROM.  Unfortunately, the Comptons requires windows and thus is inaccessible, as
is "any product using GUI, icons, Windows or a mouse," Jaquiss declared.

     Jaquiss went on to present suggestions for product developers interested in helping blind
computer users: offer a command line switch that will allow a package to use a character-oriented
interface, provide an alternate retrieval package, and use a client/server model.

     Characteristics of what Jaquiss called "good interfaces for the blind" include a monochrome
screen and the entry of aletteror number to select from menus.  If a cursor is needed, the DOS cursor
should be used.  When new screens appear, the contents of the previous screen should be cleared. 
And, finally, Jaquiss said, manuals should be available on diskette or CD-ROM.

     The main objective of SIGTEAL is to establish a network of CD-ROM industry, govemment, and
disability groups to foster an exchange of information on technology and the disabled.  The group
also conducts product evaluations for developers.

     For more information on SIGTEAL, please contact either Robert Jaquiss at Tektronix Corporation
(503-627-4444) or Tom Dennison at Dennison Associates (703-379-2842).



CD-RIM - Special Interest Group on the

          Reliability & Integrity of Media



     Changing the plastic coating on CD-ROMs may make them durable enough to withstand conditions
on the battlefield.  But if it's disc destruction you're after, cook it in your microwave.

     "On tomorrow's battlefield, knowledge is a lethal weapon," declared Ron Kushnier of the Naval
Air Warfare Center (NAWC).  Kushnier chairs the CD-RIM working group, which is involved in the stress
testing and evaluation of CD-ROM media, specifically with regard to severe environmental conditions.

     "My message is simple," Kushnier said.  "CD-ROM is the greatest thing to happen to the mass
distribution of information since the printing press.  But the side that utilizes that knowledge in
the most timely and effective manner will probably be the side that is victorious.  CD-ROMs are not
all created equal.  CD-ROMs are not indestructible, and they will not last forever.  "NAWC has looked
at CD-ROMs with regard to environmental aspects such as shock, vibration, temperature, and altitude. 
The Center has also considered operational parameters--format, data transfer, error control, and
interface as a standard.

     "When CD-ROM became an issue," Kushnier said, "we began to talk about laser rot, the erosion
and contamination of the disc.  And we were worried that this would happen as we tried to incorporate
discs out in the field."

     NAWC began conducting CD-ROM tests in 1988.  In 1990, the Center exposed CDs (along with other
types of discs) to 176" F and 90 percent relative humidity for 150 hours.  The results showed that
some CDs did fine and some failed miserably.  "We have continued to see this inconsistency among
discs," Kushnier said.  "The weak area on CDs was the top protective layer of the disc.  The surface
did not form a hermetic seal at the edges of the disc, so contaminants could reach in under the
protective coating and oxidize the aluniinum underneath."

     The results of these tests were published in a document called The CD-ROM in Harsh Environment. 
"With this document, we tried to generate a statement or a guideline that incorporated with CD-ROM
procurements to make sure that if we sent discs to places like Panama or Saudi Arabia, the discs
would survive," Kushnier explained.  NAWC is now conducting additional, more sophisticated CD-ROM
tests involving temperature, humidity, light, and altitude.  The Center expects to release a report
by the end of the year.

     For more information on CD-RIM, please contact Ron Kushnier at the Naval Air Warfare Center on
215-441-1624.

          CDOWG - CD-ROM Data Origination

                          Working Group



     Maureen Prettyman of the National Institutes of Health spoke about the programs offered in
meetings of the CD-ROM Data Origination Working Group.  (CDOWG sports a whimsical pooch as its logo.)
This organization, established in 1989, is a network for people familiar with premastering
workstations.  "Our purpose," explained Prettyman, "is to provide technical support and a forum for
government organizations, developers, and value-added resellers.  Premastering is the end of the
authoring stage."

     CDOWG programs have covered such topics as the problems of editing very large files and the
range of premastering options available.  One program centered on physical integrity.  Prettyman
explained the value of such a topic: "It is important to test that your sample disc really does have
what you need.  The first disc we produced--and we were proud of it--was hand delivered to the
mastering company.  We got the disc off the press and discovered it had a virus.  So it all went down
the drain."

     Future CDOWG programs will explore how to gather data; search and retrieval packages; and
washing data (when a user buys the lights to use data, does he have the right to make corrections?).

     For more information on CDOWG, please contact Maureen Prettyrmn at the National Institutes of
Health on 301-496-1936.



          SIGLIT - Special Interest Group on Library

                     Information Technology



     SIGLIT, one the oldest and most active SIGCAT working groups (it was founded in 1987),
concentrates on managing and using CD-ROMs in library and information centers.  The group operates
a bulletin board conference, a CD-ROM user exchange, and a tape exchange.

     SIGLIT's bulletin board conference, sponsored by the Library of Congress, is called the ALIX
BBS.  Users can learn what the Federal Library Committee of the Library of Congress is doing in
CD-ROM and get information on other areas of the library.

     Susan David of the Library of Congress, SIGLIT's co-chair, said the tape exchange began when
a colleague in another State wanted to participate in the working group.  "We got the idea to tape
SIGLIT meetings and send them to members from other areas," David said.  Tapes are on audio cassette
and sometimes on video.

     David advised persons setting up similar working groups to "keep administrative overhead to a
minimum (no dues, no officers)." SIGLIT is run by a coordinating committee; different people plan
each meeting.  Summaries of past meetings are posted on the ALIX conference along with announcements
of upcoming meetings.  "As you know, librarians are always excellent writers," David pointed out,
"so the summaries come out wonderfully succinct."



     For more information on SIGLIT, please contact either Joyce Backus at the National Library of
Medicine (301-496-6097) or Susan David at the Library of Congress (202-707-7169).

              SIGSTAND - Special Interest Group on

                            Standards



     Mike Rubinfeld of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NISI) discussed the two
standards most familiar in the CD-ROM industry, ISO 9660 and the newer ISO 10149.  "What we attempt
to do in NIST and SIGCAT is give a viewpoint for these standards," said Rubinfeld, who chairs the
SIGSTAND Working Group.  "We need to focus our attention on the needed interfaces.  I emphasize
interface because this is where the standards are going.  With standard interfaces, you can reach
a wider audience, across platfomis, and achieve interoperability."

     Rubinfeld took the audience step by step through seven-layer architecture as it pertains to
standards--through the physical formatting layer at the bottom, the volume file structure, the CD-ROM
encoding layer and indexing layer, and so forth.

     For more information on SIGSTAND, please contact like Rubinfeld at the National Institute of
Standards and Technology on 301-975- 3064.



          SIGSOFT - Special Interest Group on Software



     George Knapp of the U.S. Geological Survey co-chairs SIGSOFT with Denise Davis of the University
of Maryland.  SIGSOFT evaluates new authoring and retrieval software applicable to CD-ROM.  A matrix
of software products maintained by SIGSOFT contains over 40 commercial packages and their various
functional characteristics.

     "Most of the software packages are adequate for reading what's on the CD-ROM you can make a
search and see what's available and look it up," Knapp said.  "However, very few of these packages
have any sort of post-processing involvement.  It's about time some of the manufacturers came up with
more flexible post-processing, not just the specialized post-processing you sometimes see."

     SIGSOFT is trying to locate software to rapidly download whatever users need into whatever data
base system they prefer.  Knapp mentioned that Fox ProT" 2.0 exhibits some of these characteristics.

     For more information on SIGSOFF, please contact either George Knapp at the U.S. Geological
Survey (703-648-6823) or Denise Davis at the University of Maryland (301-405-9072).





          SIGCLASS - Special Interest Group on

                         Classified Applications



     "The rules change when you put out classified data," said Duane Marquis of the National
Telecommunications and Information Adniinistration.  Marquis chairs SIGCLASS, a wyorking group
involved with the publication and distribution of classified and sensitive information on CD-ROM. 
Marquis stated that, at this point, SIGCLASS is still identifying the problems to be addressed; as
yet, no real solutions have been found.

     "Unlike CDs you buy for games or general data, access control is a very serious problem when
you are dealing with data that are sensitive or classified," Marquis explained.  "Accountability is
a real problem when you are putting a lot of data on something as small as a CD.  Even a jewel case
will fit into any jacket pocket."

     While his group considered classified CD-ROMS, other issues arose: "What levels of
classification were we talking abou% what kind of data and how sensitive they were, and exactly in
what operational environments were they going to be used?"

     Because regulations within most military departments call for different handling in different
theaters of operation, Marquis has looked into using CD-ROMs here in the United Statrs, overseas,
in combat, and, some instances, on shipboard.

     "Underlying all of these potrntial problem areas," he said, "was the fact that we had to deal
with the sensitivity of the information--that is, exactly what would be comprorriised if this
information was lost.  How long in terms of volatility--what is the life span of these data? It is
not clear that there were any real regulations or policies in place to deal with this.  "

     Marquis talked about the importance of considering distribution, utilization, and storage in
terms of CD-ROM.  "Distribution is simple with CDs because they are small, but they are also easy
to steal."

     A primary consideration of the group revolved around how to destroy classified CDs.  The
doctrine of destruction of classified information simply states that it should be destroyed to the
point thatihe data cannot be reconstituted.  "Precisely what does that mean in terrm of CDs? It was
not clear to the committee," Marquis said.

     CDs are probably going to be included in operational weapons systems, Marquis said.  "The
question is, when you have a CD-ROM and a computer mounted inside an an-nored personnel carrier, how
do you destroy that CD when you're on the run? One suggestion is to throw it on the groundand shoot
it with an M-16, "Marquis said.  "These areas may well be addressed by making equipment that has a
destruction device built into it"

     Marquis has tried to destroy CD-ROMs in a variety of ways.  He has burned them, shredded them,4
shattered them, and glued them together.  But the best solution still appears to be the development
of encrypted CD data.  However, as Marquis said, "Sticking a CD in a microwave does a really nice
number on it.

     For more information on SIGCLASS, please contact Duane Marquis at the Department of Commerce
on 301-261-8002.



                         April 27-29,1992

                    SIGCAT 192 Conference





     "With CD-ROM, we now have a way to communicate among nations," declared E.J. (Jerry) McFaul in
introductory remarks at SIGCAT '92, the first national convention of the Special Interest Group on
CD-ROM Applications and Technology (SIGCAT)."



     "There are now 68 countries in the world publishing CD-ROM discs, up about 15 percent from last
year," McFaul said.  "These countries, large and small, are publishing in a technology that is
interchangeable around the world." He continued, "CD-ROM is going to be particularly important in
countries where traditional telecommurfications and online access are virtually impossible.  It can
provide these countries with libraries of critical information for medical, agricultural, and
technological development that they just can't get in printed form And the fact that 68 countries
are now embracing CD-ROM is giving additional credibility to the field."

     McFaul offered these comments on April 27 during the general session of the three-day conference
and exhibition at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, Md.



     National Center for Missing and Exploited Children



     The National Center for Nfissing and Exploited Children needs 50 CD-ROM drives plus adapters
in order to implement its new program to build a national computer network linking the Center with
50 State clearing houses and other law enforcement agencies across the country.  The Center hopes
to provide each remote site with the ability to read CD-ROM discs that are being produced by the Sony
Corporation and distributed by the Center.  These discs contain a text query and retrieval system
that provides information about several missing child cases plus digital photographic and
computer-enhanced images of each child.

     Each computer will be a 80386/SX 20-mhz DOS compatible system with 2 NIB of RAM, a 40-MB hard
disk, an internal 2400-baud modem, a VGA adapter, and a 14" color VGA monitor.  Software provided
will be DOS, WordPerfect", PC Anywhere (TM) and DBASE III+".  The CD player, adaptor and drive must
be compatible with this configuration.



     If you are interestrd in donating equipment for this project or receiving niore information,
call Ernie Allen at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on 703-235-3900.



               Opening Speaker - Dr. Fred Wood



     Fred Wood of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) of the U.S. Congress was the opening
speaker at SIGCAT '92.  Wood summarized the findings of OTA's Helping America Compete report on
CD-ROM.  "Electronic media, including CD-ROM, offers the only way to manage the massive volume and
complexity of scientific and technical information (STI)," Wood said.  "Low cost, user-friendly STI
such as CD-ROM can help improve the dissemination of Federal STI and ultimately strengthen the
information literacy of the Nation's scientists and engineers.  We must take advantage of CD-ROM ...
to be competitive in world markets," Wood continued.  "And active involvement by the STI community
is imperative if government STI efforts are to be successful.  Finally, those in STI must pay
attention to policy initiatives pertaining to CD-ROM."



                         Keynote Speech:

                The Honorable Charlie Rose (D-NC)



     The keynote address at SIGCAT '92 was delivered by Rep. Charlie Rose (D-N.C.), who chairs the
Committee on House Administration in the U.S. House of Representatives.  Following are excerpts from
that address:

     I will begin by congratulating all of you for successfully transforming progress in the
laboratory into affordable useful products in a short period of time .... Information is the
lifeblood of the economy.  Making information affordable and accessible is fundamental to American
business.  Two good examples are the Census and the Federal Register, both of which are now available
in CD-ROM format.  These two databases provide businesses valuable information about where their
potential markets are and what they have to do to get along with the Fedeeral Government Most of you
have probably seen multimedia maintenance manuals and parts catalogs on CD-ROM.  These are great
applications where the payoff in worker efficiency is quite obvious.  It takes only a little
imagination to see how this technology can make the work place more efficient and have a very
positive influence on the business decision making process.  We are looking at putting the House
files on President Kennedy's assassination on CD-ROM as the files are a mixture of text, film,
photographs, and audio.

     CD-ROM technology will change the way our children are taught.  It doesn't take a rocket
scientist to figure out that, if you can use CD-ROM technology to show an auto mechanic how to
replace a brake shoe, you can use it to teach a child geography, physics or anything else.  Most
schools don't have much money for technology, but, as you in the industry work to improve the
software and drive prices down, I am convinced that the most profound impact CD-ROM technology will
have is on the way our children learn.  Information is also the lifeblood of a free society. 
Citizens have the right to know what their government is doing.  They have the right to access the
information that government has amassed using their tax dollars.  Back when the Congress passed the
1985 Printing Act and the Freedom of Information Act, the intent was to make govemment information
easily available to the ordinary citizen.  As most of us know, in most cases it hasn't happened. 
CD-ROM provides a record-keeping and publication technology that can make the concept of freedom of
information a reality.

     I see so many potential CD-ROM applications in the Congress, it's hard to decide where to start. 
I'll tell you two areas where we are active now.  First, the House Law Revision Counsel is
supervising the Govemment Printing Office (GPO) in publishing the U.S. Code on CD-ROM.  This is no
small task.  For those of you who aren't familiar with the Code, it contains all the laws passed by
Congress but organized by topic.  A second area we are exploring now is storing committee proceedings
on CD-ROM.  A committee with jurisdiction over a large part of Federal activities is very much
limited by its ability to identify, locate, and access information when all its records are on paper
and there is no search engine available.  CD-ROM is going to make dramatic improvements in the
Congress's ability to legislate and provide oversight.  A major concern that I have, which was
reflected in my first hearing by the Joint Committee on Printing On April 25, 1991, is that
government information should remain equally available to all.  Technological and policy barriers
to access must be virtually eliminated.  Individual citizens and information corporations shall
receive the same govemment infomiation to use as each wishes.

     Current and future technologies will dramatically change the role that government plays in the
dissemination of the public's information.  The Joint Committee explored the role that technology
will play in equipping the Government Printing Office to better serve government agencies and the
pubhc in hearings held in June and July of 1991.  The founder of SIGCAT, Jeny McFaul, was one of our
witnesses.  Along with the hearings, the Joint Comn-fittee took several other steps designed to move
GPO along a path of niodemizadon.  The Joint Committee directed the General Accounting Office to
conduct the first COff1plete audit to GPO in 8 years and the fmt comprehensive evaluation of GPO
management As a result of these actions and others, efforts are underway to produce a long-term plan,
long sought by the Joint Comn-dttee, for the future of GPO.  As a first step, GPO has recently
published GPOI2001: Visionfor a New Millennium.  GPO, at the direction of the Joint Committee, has
completed five pilot projects for the electronic distribution of government information to depository
libraries.  These include the Census on CD-ROM; the Toxic Release Inventory of the Environmental
Protection Agency on CD-ROM; the Congressional Recor,cts as of 1985, on CD-ROM; the Economic Bulletin
Board online to a selected 120 libraries; and the abstracts of the Department of Energy technical
reports online to 18 selected libraries.  Final evaluations of these projects have not as yet been
completed by the Government Printing Office/General Accouncing Office.

     Prelin-dnary data show that the users are happy with the idea of having large statistical databases on CD-ROM; in fact, much
of the Census data is being provided on CD-ROM, including the tiger map files.  The users have also indicated that they would like
the final Congressional Record on CD but would prefer a more friendly software

retrieval package.  Returning to the April 25, 1991, oversight hearing of the Joint Committee, it
is evident that concern continues to exist that a great deal of information gathered at public
expense is not reaching the public through the Congressional depository library system.  This occurs
for a number of reasons, including poor management of publishing programs by Federal departments and
agencies, the trend toward computerization of information, and simple budgetary constraints.  Seeking
enhancement of the role of GPO as a Federal Government infomiation disseminator and infomiation
access agent, I have introduced H.R. 2772, the GPO Wide Information Network for Data Online (WINDO)
Act.  The bill has been referred to the Committee on House Administration, which I also chair.  It
seeks to establish in GPO a single point of online public access to a wide range of Federal databases
containing public information stored electronically.  While public hearings on this measure are being
planned to obtain a broad range of views, I will also be receiving expert views from the Joint
Committee staff regarding this policy innovation.  I hope that many of you here today will have an
opportunity to examine this proposal and share your views about it with me by writing to me in care
of the Joint Committee or the Committee on House Administration.

     It is not my intention to harm the private sector information industry.  In fact, just the
opposite, the proposed WINDO bill will encourage true value added activity in the private sector. 
However, the need for more and better systems for the public to access its information is fundamental
to the concepts of a free society.  In this day of high-speed microcomputers and the crashing cost
of memory, the rationale for limited access dissipates.  Finally, what of the future? You know that
Congressional committees, such as the ones that I chair, are problem solvers with little opportunity
to look very far into the decades ahead.  For that kind of vision and foresight, we turn to
practitioners and planners in a variety of institutions and organizations.  In that regard, the views
and advice of SIGCAT are welcomed and respected by me.  You and I share a common objective.  Thomas
Jefferson put it this way long ago: "I know of no safe depository of the ultimate powers of society
but the people themselves; and if we think them not enlightened enough to exercise their control with
a wholesome discretion, the remedy is not to take it from them, but to inform their discretion by
education".  The ready availability of government information is, I believe you will agree, vital
to that education.



     The preceding notes from the march 9,1992 SIGCAT meeting and the ApriL SIGCAT '92 Conference
were recorded and compiled by Jane A. Inge, editor of Computer Digest MAgazine.  We are sincerely
grateful to Jane and to Computer Digest for their efforts in documenting some of the ideas and issues
that transpired at these meetings and for making that documentation availabk lo the SIGCAT.



          SIGCAT CD-ROM Compendium



     The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) has assumed responsibility for publication of the
SIGCAT CD-ROM Compendium, beginning with the April 1992 edition.

     Copies of the Compendium can be purchased for $6.50 from the Superintendent of Documents
021-006-00153-8) by calling the Order and Information Desk on 202-783-3238.

     Federal agencies may notify GPO of additional CD-ROM titles (either in process or completed),
or update information for existing Compendium entries, by completing a data entry form available from
Bonnie Trivizas, Office of electronic Dissemination Services (ID), U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 2040 1. For further
information contact Bonnie on 202-512-1265 (voice) or 202-512-1434 (fax).
Newsgroups: alt.cd-rom