CD-ROM software does not network for a variety of reasons, LYNCH said. He speculated that CD-ROM publishers are not eager to have their products really hook into wide area networks, because they fear it will make their data suppliers nervous. Moreover, until relatively recently, one had to be rather adroit to run a full TCP/IP stack plus applications on a PC-size machine, whereas nowadays it is becoming easier as PCs grow bigger and faster. LYNCH also speculated that software providers had not heard from their customers until the last year or so, or had not heard from enough of their customers. ****** +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ BESSER * Implications of disseminating images on the network; planning the distribution of multimedia documents poses two critical implementation problems * Layered approach represents the way to deal with users' capabilities * Problems in platform design; file size and its implications for networking * Transmission of megabyte size images impractical * Compression and decompression at the user's end * Promising trends for compression * A disadvantage of using X-Windows * A project at the Smithsonian that mounts images on several networks * +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Howard BESSER, School of Library and Information Science, University of Pittsburgh, spoke primarily about multimedia, focusing on images and the broad implications of disseminating them on the network. He argued that planning the distribution of multimedia documents posed two critical implementation problems, which he framed in the form of two questions: 1) What platform will one use and what hardware and software will users have for viewing of the material? and 2) How can one deliver a sufficiently robust set of information in an accessible format in a reasonable amount of time? Depending on whether network or CD-ROM is the medium used, this question raises different issues of storage, compression, and transmission. Concerning the design of platforms (e.g., sound, gray scale, simple color, etc.) and the various capabilities users may have, BESSER maintained that a layered approach was the way to deal with users' capabilities. A result would be that users with less powerful workstations would simply have less functionality. He urged members of the audience to advocate standards and accompanying software that handle layered functionality across a wide variety of platforms.