* A technician in production mode can scan 300 pages per hour when performing single-sheet scanning, which is a necessity when working with truly brittle paper; this figure is expected to increase significantly with subsequent iterations of the software from Xerox; a three-month time-and-cost study of scanning found that the average 300-page book would take about an hour and forty minutes to scan (this figure included the time for setup, which involves keying in primary bibliographic data, going into quality control mode to define page size, establishing front-to-back registration, and scanning sample pages to identify a default range of settings for the entire book--functions not dissimilar to those performed by filmers or those preparing a book for photocopy). * The final step in the scanning process involved rescans, which happily were few and far between, representing well under 1 percent of the total pages scanned. In addition to technician time, CXP costed out equipment, amortized over four years, the cost of storing and refreshing the digital files every four years, and the cost of printing and binding, book-cloth binding, a paper reproduction. The total amounted to a little under $65 per single 300-page volume, with 30 percent overhead included--a figure competitive with the prices currently charged by photocopy vendors. Of course, with scanning, in addition to the paper facsimile, one is left with a digital file from which subsequent copies of the book can be produced for a fraction of the cost of photocopy, with readers afforded choices in the form of these copies. KENNEY concluded that digital technology offers an electronic means for a library preservation effort to pay for itself. If a brittle-book program included the means of disseminating reprints of books that are in demand by libraries and researchers alike, the initial investment in capture could be recovered and used to preserve additional but less popular books. She disclosed that an economic model for a self-sustaining program could be developed for CXP's report to the Commission on Preservation and Access (CPA). KENNEY stressed that the focus of CXP has been on obtaining high quality in a production environment. The use of digital technology is viewed as an affordable alternative to other reformatting options. ****** +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ANDRE * Overview and history of NATDP * Various agricultural CD-ROM products created inhouse and by service bureaus * Pilot project on Internet transmission * Additional products in progress * +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++