Wydawnictwa CD-ROM w Polsce

CD-ROM technology becomes cheaper, and consequently more available. The number of CD-drives sold in Poland has doubled within a year. Most computer shops in Poland offer nowadays the so-called multimedia sets, which additionally contain: a CD-ROM drive, a sound card, speakers and appropriate software. This creates new opportunities for Polish producers of CD-packages. The first part of the article describes briefly the hardware-software development of CD-technology. The second part deals with main applications of CD-ROM in education. A division of CD educational software is presented and some typical examples are given. The third (the main) part of the article gives a comprehensive and up-to-date list of Polish CD-ROM packages available on the market (Dec. '96/Jan'97). The whole list covers almost thirty titles: 14 packages for language learning, 8 encyclopedias and thematical databases, 3 dictionaries and a few other programs. Each title is described for its characteristic features and capabilities. A selected bibliography is given and a number of supplementary readings. Part four of the article lists those packages which are either being developed now, or are announced by the producers themselves to be published soon. The last few paragraphs deal with some perspectives of CD-ROM production from the technical point of view