Optical Laser Technology, Specifically CD-ROM (Compact Disc - Read Only Memory) and Its Application to the Storage and Retrieval of Information.

One of the significant problems of this information age is the production of vast amounts of information in a form that is neither convenient nor cost effective. A possible solution to this, is the new optical laser technology and its use in the storage and retrieval of large amounts of information. In many areas of DOD, the greatest benefit would be the regained space and weight associated with the distribution of the manuals and other typically paper products on a Compact Disc - Read Only Memory CD-ROM. One CD-ROM weighs less than an ounce and is capable of storing over 270,000 pages of text. The saved shipping and handling costs alone would be astronomically reduced not to mention the end user who would have a more effective and efficient product. The CD-ROM is designed to work as a peripheral device to a microcomputer and can therefore be made available to any user within an IBM compatible microcomputer. The applicationdemonstration portion of this thesis took over 2 million database records, from the Transaction Ledger on Disc TLOD, at the Naval Supply Center NSC in Oakland and pressed them to a single CD-ROM. The menu driven retrieval software with indexing on 3 criteria was also provided.