This report examines the potential impact of optical media--videodiscs, compact audio discs, and optical disks, tapes, and cards--in library related applications. A detailed consideration of the technology includes discussion of the underlying principles, the various forms in which the technology is marketed, production methods and costs, and the…

Our society is witnessing an ever-increasing sophistication in the development and use of computer and associated telecommunications technologies. Archivists are no longer faced with preserving relatively simply numeric files, but with maintaining a vast array of electronic information holdings ranging from complex databases to compound electronic…