The Jane’s Information Group has come out with a new line of multimedia information CD‐ROMs. People in the defense business will recognize Jane’s as one of the authoritative sources for reference material; so their move to CD from paper is welcome. My guess is even Tom Clancy relies on them.
Their most recently released CD is the Jane’s Defense Equipment Library. This program offers unlimited information to seekers of defense news...for a price of course. The CD is a catalogue, which holds the entire contents of 23 Jane’s publications titles. You can subscribe to one title or all of them. Each title must be purchased through a subscription in order to receive the contents. But if you do a lot of on‐line searching, this series is a reasonably priced alternative; if not, skip this review. Included here are titles like Infantry Weapons, Military Communications, Radar and Electronic Warfare Systems, Air Launched Weapons, and Naval Weapons Systems. Forthcoming CDs in the series will include a Transport Library, Geopolitical Library, Market Intelligence Library, and Defense Magazines Library.
This program can run with “standalone” PCs and networks only. The minimum requirements needed for this program to run on a standalone PC are as follows: IBM PC or 100% compatible, 486/66 (or faster) processor, Windows 3.1 or greater, double speed CD‐ROM drive, 2 MB of free hard disk space, 8 MB of RAM, SVGA monitor. For the program to work with a network, the network must run Novell Netware version 3.X or 4X with Windows for Workgroups or Windows NT. If you have a different network configuration, Jane’s asks that you contact them.
Setup is quick and easy if used within the absolute requirements. If you try to install the program in a different software base than is recommended, the program grants little consolation. You have the option to load all the files in the library or to leave them on the CD. This option saves the user valuable free disk space.
The menu screen is not overwhelmingly creative, but it does its job efficiently and is very easy to use. You face six options on the original menu interface: Search, Table of Contents, Tutorial, What’s New, Subscription, and Exit. The functions perform just what they imply. The Search function takes you to a screen where you can search the library for desired information. There are options for selective searches to narrow down the results, along with other functions which make the search a little easier.
The Table of Contents takes you to a list of all the available titles in the library and highlights the ones that are accessible. Clicking on one of the highlighted titles lets you search the articles within your selection. The Tutorial guides you through the program with a video tour, while the What’s New function informs you of new titles available for subscription. Clicking on the Subscription function allows you to take the first steps in subscribing to titles on the disc. (You need to contact Jane’s by phone or by email to complete the subscription.) The Exit function takes you out of the program.
There are no problems with the use of the program. The hyperlinks respond quickly and offer an easy‐to‐use interface. The reports bring you detailed and current information on unlimited topics within the defense industry and marketplace. Details on platforms and equipment are well presented and can be extracted for use in reports and other documents. Detailed graphics that bring the topic to life are selected from extensive lists of both photographs and drawings (schematics mostly.)
The main downfall of the program is the subscriptions. A search may turn up numerous reports regarding the topic, but if you do not subscribe to the titles the reports come from, you are out of luck. This can be a frustrating process, to find the information you need and then not be able to access it.
The bottom line is: if you already use Jane’s, you’ll like this title. If not, it’s not worth the money. For larger companies or defense‐related libraries, running this program over a network has a lot more utility than passing the hardcover books around. And while the title is a bit pricey, the good news is that a subscription includes quarterly updates.’
