The KR OnDisc Engineering Conferences and Reports program can run with Windows, Macintosh, or MS‐DOS software platforms. The program can run straight off of the CD without installation or it can be installed on the hard drive. The KR OnDisc Engineering Conferences and Reports search program enables the user to explore a vast ocean of information that would otherwise be close to impossible to retrieve. Knight‐Ridder Information Incorporated has gathered technical information and literature from hundreds of conferences and compiled it in a CD‐ROM disc set. There is no menu screen, just a basic window with all the options located on the tool bar.
To begin a search you click on the Search/ Modify function, then choose which search option you want to use. The search options vary depending on what database you use; but they all have options that help you customize and define a search that will be most helpful in your query. As with some of their other products, these are tools for professional users not novices. It helps to have used Dialog. The program requires high computer and search engine competency in order for the user to extract the full benefits. There is little help available and that which is there is often just as confusing as what caused the problem itself. However, if matched up with the right user this program is unsurpassed in its ability to deliver lots of information quickly and precisely.
The CD‐ROM combines databases from Engineering Information Inc., FIZ Karlsruhe, and the European Association for Grey Literature Exploitation (EAGLE). Material is from 1990 through 1997. This information will be updated quarterly with further CDS. Each source is its own database on the CD, in a manner analogous to DIALOG on‐line. Since the material is very technical, it requires a knowledgeable user to release the full potential from the tight grips of its interface. Topics covered include: Aeronautical and Aerospace Engineering; Agricultural Engineering; Applied Physics; Bioengineering; Chemical Engineering; Ceramics; Plastics & Polymers; Civil and Structural Engineering; Environmental Technology; Electrical Engineering; Instrumentation; Control Engineering; Power Engineering; Electronics, Computers, Communications; Energy Technology and Petroleum Engineering; Engineering Management; Industrial Engineering; Manufacturing; Marine Engineering; Naval Architecture; Ocean & Underwater Technology Materials; Mining and Metallurgic Engineering; Nuclear Engineering; and (whew) everyone’s favorite Optical Technology.
If you can afford the price and understand that this kind of information has a limited life span of utility, buy it.
