Databases on CD-ROM 

The databases presently available on CD-ROM can be grouped into the following categories: 

i)  Bibliographic databases with or without abstracts, which provide access to the literature of a specific subject field or list of a type of publications such as patents;

ii)  Catalogue or book trade databases; 

iii)  Source databases which contain the total contents of a document's; including as appropriate computer software, images or sound, and maps and charts, as well as any text and numeric data; 

iv)  Quick reference databases which offer facts and figurers that are characteristic of directories; 

v)  Mixed (i.e., databases which contain full text data) databases such as McGraw-Hill Scientific and Technical Reference Set; 

vi)  Multimedia databases including databases in CD-I, CDROMXA, DVI and CDTV formats. These products offer motion picture graphics and sound, and often the opportunity to interact with the computer.