CD-ROM Reviews
Offering an alternative to online databases, CD-ROM’s have been especially popular in universities for whom a fixed-cost database with a user friendly search interface has better suited requirements. Certainly, the attraction of searching electronic databases has raised student awareness of bibliogr aphic tools. The CD-ROM databases listed are a selection of the more recent titles available for the Built Environment.

Overview
Overview

ICONDA: International Construction Database

 ICONDA is a bibliographical system on a single CD-ROM disk providing references with abstracts for books, journal series, conference proceedings, theses, reports and other non-conventional literature relating to the construction industry. International c overage is given from 1974 to the present and is updated quarterly. Endorsed by the International Council for Building Research Studies and Documentation (CIB) and the International Union of Building Centres, contributions have been made by professional o rganisations from fifteen countries.

Indexing is based on the FINDEX system which has an excellent free text search system giving very high performance fast searching. It is published by Silver Platter Information Services and is fast becoming an industry standard for CD-ROM based informatio n database search systems.

The 1976-Jan 1995 CD-ROM database release contains 345,615 records which includes references to more than 800 periodicals. Annual updates total more than 25,000 additional records.

The educational cost of the CD-ROM is £996 incl.VAT for a single user licence or £1136 incl.VAT for a network licence which allows from two to eight simultaneous users. A discount of 25% is available if two disks are purchased.

Silverplatter also produce ArtIndex, Booklist, the Earth Sciences Disc, Earthdisc, Ecodisc, the EDTE Energy Database, Geobase, Geography, Transport and WasteInfo CD-ROM databases. At present the publishers are conducting a WWW online trial of many of their databases.

Hardware Requirements:

Any IBM compatible PC or Apple Macintosh platform with a CD-ROM drive running Microsoft Windows 3.1 or Windows 95, MS-DOS or Mac OS.

Further Information:

SilverPlatter Information, Ltd
10 Barley Mow Passage
Chiswick
London W4 4PH
United Kingdom
Tel: 01800-262-096 Fax: 0181-995-5159
Overview

AVERY Index to Architectural Periodicals at Columbia University on CD-ROM

 ISBN 0-8161-1657-1

The Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals is the most comprehensive listing of journal articles on architecture and design in the United States. It provides a cumulative index from 1977 to 1992 of more than 135,000 articles from over 700 international periodicals. More than 75% of these are not indexed elsewhere. Coverage includes articles about architectural and interior design, the history and practice of architecture, city planning, landscape architecture and historical preservation.

The educational price for this CD-ROM is £768 (+VAT) per annum for a single licence or networked within one building. There is a 50% additional cost for any extra site required.

AVERY is also available online to subscribers and there is a limited demonstration of the on-line system at this location.

Hardware Requirements:

The index uses CD-Searcher software and runs under MS-DOS only, requiring an IBM or compatible PC with 640K RAM, a CD-ROM drive and MS-DOS extensions 2.0 or higher. VGA is not required.

Further Information: Contact the UK marketing representative:

Thompson Henry
Sunningdale
Berkshire
SL5 0EP
Tel: 01344 24615 Fax: 01344 24615

Alternatively, Avery is also available online through RGL as one of the databases in their CitaDel service. The subscription price is $1310 per year for up to five simultaneous users with a one off startup fee of $200 but no telecommunication fees. Details available on the Web Click Here for Further Details

Overview

An Index to Pevsner's Buildings of England

 ISBN 019-2682210

This database is generated from forty-two volumes of Pevsner’s Buildings of England, compiled by Michael Good. It can be searched by building category, place name, artist/architect, period or a combination of these. It does not contain any images, and the four volumes of London and the recent Glamorgan addition are not as yet covered. The cost of the Index is £295 per year for one disk that may be networked over a single site. It runs under MS-DOS only.

Hardware Requirements:

Any IBM PC compatible.

Further Information:

Janet Caldwell
Customer Service Manager
Electronic Publishing
Oxford University Press
Walton Street
Oxford OX2 6DP
Tel: 01865-267979 Fax: 01865-267990
E-mail: caldwel@oup.co.uk
Overview

APId - Architectural Publications Index of the British Architectural Library (RIBA)

 ISSN 1357-0536

This is an index to the British Architectural Library on a single CD-ROM covering every aspect of architecture and allied arts, both current and historical, together with construction technology, interior design, environmental design, landscape and planni ng. It uses the Blackwell IDEALIST search engine which has an intelligent indexing system and runs under Microsoft Windows 3.1 with Win32 extensions or Windows 95. Records are categorised and searchable by type (periodicals, books or audio visual material s), published date or time segments ( last two, five, ten or all years available). Alternatively, the index is searchable by author, title, journal, publisher, subject, designer, language, year of publication or ISBN. Performance is a little slow compared to similar types of databases. It has more than 150,000 entries extending from 1978 to the present. An additional 10,000 entries are added each year. Over 400 periodicals from forty-five countries are indexed, as are entries for books, exhibition catalog ues, technical reports, slides, tapes and videos. Issued quarterly, the CD costs £560 per annum for one disk that may be networked over a single site.

Hardware Requirements:

A 386 or better IBM-PC compatible with at least 4Mb of memory (8Mb recommended), 10Mb free hard disk space and a CD-ROM drive.

Further Information:

RIBA Publications
Findsbury Mission
39 Moreland St
London EC1V 8BB
Tel: 0171 250 0060 Fax: 0171 608 2375

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