Possibly the first Asian bibliographic databases on CD-ROM have just been announced. They all come from China and are in the Chinese language. First is Periodicals ChinaBase Ondisc from the Chongqing Branch of The Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China. Containing references to articles found in 4339 science and technology periodicals, coverage is from 1989.
Updates appear twice yearly.
It costs USD1,495 annually. The second CD, China Patent Gazette containing references, abstracts and images, comes from the Patent Documentation Publishing House. It includes all patent applications published by the Patent Office of the People's Republic of China since April 1985 when the China Patent Law was enforced. An annual subscription costs USD1,495. The final disk from the China Machine Press is a directory and index of 100,000 machinery and electronics manufacturers in China.